Taking It Back
by ReikaLady
Summary: Vanessa McKenzie lost everything due to the aliens, but now she's back to command what's left of XCOM and she's going to whatever she can to get back some semblance of her former life. Heavy XCOM 2 spoilers, some alternative story sections. M for language, adult situations, violence.
1. Chapter 1

_**May 13, 2015**_

 _ **0403 local time**_

 _ **Undisclosed location in central Africa**_

The voices of the techs surrounding the terminal of the massive holographic globe formed an oddly pleasing susurrus as she stepped into Mission Control. She didn't have to look at her watch to know that she'd been out of the room for less than an hour. Vanessa thought wryly to herself that she might as well have a cot or something set up in a corner since she spent far more time here than anywhere else. Especially her bed.

Off to the side she could see Central Officer John Bradford rubbing his forehead as he talked to another tech who was pointing at his screen. Seeing the puffy dark circles under the officer's eyes, she suspected that he hadn't even attempted to leave to get some sleep.

Feeling bad about to heap more of her issues on his shoulders, the tall, plain woman with short cropped dark auburn hair and storm grey eyes quietly wended her way through the bodies that were between her and her destination. Vanessa always expected to be disregarded since she preferred to wear one of the generic green XCOM jumpsuits rather than the distinctive uniform that had been provided for her position.

Yet every person she stepped around, or rather attempted to step around, would move out of her way instead. Of course they always had to say either, "Commander" or "Commander McKenzie".

Not for the first time she wondered how they could recognize her so quickly since she'd checked to see if she had been tagged with something that would alert them as to who she was. She should have been able to just blend in with the rest of the staff.

Thank God none of them tried to salute her. That was always an awkward feeling having to remember that she needed to salute back. Since she technically wasn't military it didn't take long for them to break that habit. Well, according to the paper she signed and the oath she swore made her temporarily military or something like that. Half asleep and jet lagged to hell and back, she wasn't entirely sure how that worked.

Of course, the whole setup with XCOM was just strange in general.

She also silently acknowledged to herself that she was punch drunk from lack of sleep due to the number of operations she'd ended up supervising over the last couple of days.

Though it wasn't her exhaustion that still made her question who had the bright idea of putting her in charge of a military operation of this magnitude when she'd never seen any kind of service. Not even in the ROTC during her school years. It was the fact she was a naturally paranoid person who had a hard time believing they'd put a non-military person in charge of this mess.

Not that she'd deny the alien invasion. That was all too real.

Trying to ignore the buzzing in her head she dismissed those questions. Somehow they were holding the things back. Though they were all fucked if the things had more numbers to bring to bear.

The buzzing started to affect her physically as she finally got near Bradford causing her to shiver involuntarily as her skin prickled from the goosebumps forming on her skin.

The tech returned his focus to his terminal as Central stepped away and swiveled to face her. "Commander?"

Surreptitiously rubbing her arms in the vain effort at banishing the creepy crawlies, she asked, "I thought you were going to crash around the time I left, Central?"

"Pot, kettle, Commander," he replied lightly with a small smile. She started to smile back until another, more violent, shiver wracked her.

Her second-in-command studied her, his forehead creasing in the way it did when he was trying to find a diplomatic way of saying something to her. "Are you feeling all right, ma'am? Normally you don't seem to have a problem being cold."

Leave it to Central to be too polite to say that she bitched about roasting. Which she was as usual, but that buzzing was grating on her nerves. Trying not to grit her teeth, she said, "I'm not cold, but I'm wondering if Vahlen is running one of her little experiments without telling anyone?"

The creases deepened as he actually frowned, "She better not be after how… firm you were with her about doing that without your permission."

That was true. Vanessa had been quite unhappy seeing that Vahlen was trying to cook up something with alien genetic material, she had gone into full on pissed off Commander mode. She didn't remember what she said, but apparently the soldiers on guard duty had been impressed.

Of course it turned into a popular topic with the rest of the troops.

Another shiver washed over her, this one painful the way it caused her skin to tighten. His mouth pulled down, but didn't exactly frown as he studied her. "Commander, I think you should go to the infirmary to get examined. We don't need you out of commission from something that could be preventable."

Hoping that she didn't sound as crazy as she felt herself going, she said, "I feel fine actually. It's just that a few minutes ago something jolted me awake. Since then I've felt this buzzing in my mind and now I feel it physically. And-"

She paused again, feeling even more stupid and foolish.

Those too sharp brown eyes stared at her. "And what, Commander?"

"I can smell them. The aliens. Like when one of the fireteams bring in a large number of fresh corpses for Vahlen to experiment with. Almost as bad as when they bring in live specimens."

Vanessa had to give the man credit for not sighing at her as he said, "I know you're not happy –"

Feeling even more irritated she raised a hand to stop what he was about to say. "I'm resigned to the need for live samples, Central. I'm just –"

The power flickered causing an electronic scratching noise from the hologram and silencing everyone in the room. They both looked around as Central voiced confusion for both of them. "What the hell?"

One of the wide eyed techs tried to remain calm as he shouted out his report "Sir, internal systems are shutting down all over HQ!"

The floor beneath their feet shook from thumps of multiple explosions in distant sections of the base. Another tech started to read off damage reports with a hysterical edge in his voice. While Central was occupied with the first tech, she went over to the second to place a calming hand on the man's shoulder. "Easy now. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly and start over."

It put her into a good position to see a man running towards Bradford with a fire extinguisher in his hands. Since he was holding it like a weapon, Vanessa called out a warning. It wasn't enough for Central to avoid the attack, but it only staggered him for a moment.

Without missing a beat, Bradford spun around to land a solid punch to the man's jaw giving him enough breathing space to grab a pistol from a compartment under the hologram's console. Grabbing the man by his throat, Central held the pistol to the man's temple and screamed, "What have you done?"

The man stared up at him silently with blank white eyes. Bradford pistol whipped his attacker into unconsciousness.

The room rocked with another explosion peppering everyone with debris from the ceiling.

Ducking down for cover, Vanessa saw that there was another compartment near her. Unfortunately for her, there were only papers in there, no weapon. Silently cursing the situation, she hunched even further under cover so she could fish out her headset to see where her troops were and what they were up to.

Of course her best fireteam that was based out of HQ was still enroute from their last op. They wouldn't be back for another couple of hours. Everything would be all said and done by the time they got back.

She was very grateful for the cover when the next detonation went off. Some of the other people in the room weren't as lucky judging by their screams. Wincing as a draft brought the scent of burnt flesh mingled with smoke, she looked around for anything that would serve as a weapon. While she didn't have the combat training her soldiers did, Vanessa had picked up enough over the years to be able to protect herself in general. Sometimes growing up in the "bad side of town" proved to be useful, but it wasn't enough to protect her from trained soldiers.

Bradford abruptly loomed over her. A small cut over his left eye trickled blood down the side of his face His green commando sweater was singed in spots, but he appeared to be otherwise unhurt. He offered her a hand up, then handed her a pistol as soon as she got to her feet.

It had taken more drilling than she cared to think about as she checked the action of the pistol and to make sure it had a full clip. He nodded in approval. "Come on, Commander. I'm in contact with some of our security forces. Stay behind me while we go to them."

Her pride rebelled at the implied criticism of her ability to protect herself, then it deflated. The truth was, she couldn't defend herself in this kind of situation.

"Do we know who's attacking? Though I have a feeling I know the answer."

"They found us somehow, Commander." The anger in his voice matched what she was feeling.

Another blast, this one much closer, sent them flying. For a long moment she lay on her side, partially covered by rubble, as she tried to shake off her shock. Hearing the approach of the distinctly non-human voices of mutons , the aliens' shocktroops, she tried to scramble to her feet, but her legs didn't want to cooperate.

Squirming on her belly to the wall near her, she saw Central's fallen form. He was more than half buried by the debris. Even worse, it looked like a large chunk of cement had smashed his face in. She couldn't tell if he were still breathing or not.

Knowing that he wouldn't thank her for trying to free him at a time like this, Vanessa turned to run.

Only to see that she was too late as a muton loomed over her from the smoke that had filled the room. Pain blossomed in her face she got slammed by the butt of the creature's rifle.

So many regrets swirled down into unconscious with her as she was hauled away by the monstrous brute.


	2. Chapter 2

_**January 28, 2035**_

 _ **20:11 Central European Time**_

 _ **Advent City Center, Paris**_

A warbling alarm disturbed the velvety darkness that swaddled Vanessa's mind. She sleepily mumbled to herself and was prepared to go back to sleep since the alarm wasn't terribly loud and it wasn't her alarm clock.

The sensation of slowly falling to her feet got her attention. Why would she be falling to her feet if she were in bed? As she sagged forward, she realized she was wrapped up in something that was heavy and bulky that kept her immobile so she couldn't reach out to stop herself from falling. Except an unseen obstruction stopped her fall.

Glass shattered and she fell forward even faster than before. Panic started to take hold at her helplessness when a firm grip slowed her momentum and eased her down to a hard surface.

A harsh male voice said, "Let's get out of here."

Then she was being lifted up and slung over something. Probably the man's shoulder given the grunt of effort she heard. Great, she was getting hauled along like a sack of potatoes. That thought lead to her getting annoyed which finally got her brain to start working, rather than being a piece of sludge between her ears.

Thinking was hard though. Something was trying to lure her back into that warm darkness.

The man spoke again, "Kelly, open up a door."

A woman replied, "Yes, Central!

Central? Why did that seem so familiar? More than that. Important? A face flickered up out of the quagmire her memory had become. A somewhat attractive looking man whose dark hair was cropped short in military fashion with keen brown eyes, wearing a green commando sweater over a white collared shirt and dark tie. Then a name flickered into being. John Bradford. Central John Bradford? No, something was missing from that.

Another flash, the man half buried in rubble, then pain exploding in her face.

Well, maybe that pain had something to do with the fact it sounded like someone just set off a frag grenade nearby. She had no way of checking since he bonds wouldn't let her move around. When she went to open her mouth to try to say something, she realized she couldn't. It felt like an iron bar was shoved between her lips and capped into place.

Fear ripped through her at the sound of gunfire, but she refused to panic. Instead she tried to control her breathing, but not being able to breathe out of her mouth hampered that. A low moan escaped her despite her resolve to be brave.

The man, no, Central. Better to use a name or title. So. Central said, "Easy, Commander. You're with friends. But things are about to get bumpy." It felt like someone tried to pat her through a thick wad of padding.

Commander. That word. No. Title. Another title. Like Central.

While it was muffled, she could hear the sounds of a fast approaching plane. Hearing the sounds of its engines distracted her as her memory coughed up the mental image of a small military VTOL called a skyranger.

Before she could probe those memories more, there was a sudden jerk, an uncomfortable sense of weightlessness. Then she was being lowered to a hard surface. Again.

Central spoke to her again, but not the Central she knew. The Central she knew had a pleasant tenor with just a hint of an accent that came from the Midwestern US. This Central sounded like he gargled broken glass in whiskey on a daily basis. Though it didn't have the right sound for a smoker. "Hold on, Commander. We're on our way back to the Avenger, then we'll get you out of that suit."

Vanessa thought a little acidly to herself that holding on was a little difficult right now because her hands were immobilized by something. The situation combined with her spotty memory caused her to growl in frustration. Only it came out whinier than she intended.

There was a gentle pressure exerted on her right shoulder, then the gravelly voice spoke to her so quietly she almost couldn't hear what he said, "Vanessa, this is John Bradford. A lot has happened since the attack on HQ. Once we've gotten you taken care of, we'll talk."

That name. Central. Central _Officer_ John Bradford. Of XCOM. That last word was more important than anything else. Since she didn't want to whine again, she tried to nod to let him know she heard and understood.

It seemed her effort paid off since the pressure on her shoulder increased for a moment, then went away.

While Central didn't say anything else to her directly, she could hear him talking with the woman he called Kelly. She couldn't hear anything clearly, but their voices were reassuring.

Since all she could do was lay around, Vanessa returned to her puzzle. She knew her name of course. Vanessa McKenzie. Though she was a little fuzzy on what it was she did.

So she did what she always did, or so her untrustworthy memory told her, when confused by something. She jumbled the words in her mind that triggered her memories: XCOM, Central, Commander, Skyranger.

The words clicked into place one by one causing a minor epiphany as she remembered _everything_.

How the aliens invaded Earth like one of the sci-fi stories she used to enjoy reading in a book or watching as a movie. The soldiers arriving at her apartment door to escort her to XCOM headquarters. Getting sworn in as the frigging Commander of all things.

Given her history, she thought they'd been doing pretty good. Maybe they weren't getting decisive victories, but each mission pushed the aliens back just that much more. They'd been learning what the invaders were capable of and adapting from that knowledge.

Until the aliens found their supposed super-secret headquarters and invaded. Taking her captive.

Fear came again and this time she didn't have the mental energy to fend it back. What did the aliens do to her while she was in their captivity? Vanessa knew from the few abductees that had been rescued that horrific experiments were performed on said captives. What would they have done to her the leader of the forces that were resisting them?

They had to have known who she was since that muton took her alive instead of killing her.

Her pulse was pounding in her ears by the time the skyranger landed.

Once again she was lifted up on something, but not someone's shoulder. A gurney or something since it felt like she was being raced somewhere. Then she was being transferred, none too gently this time, to another surface.

A new man spoke, this one with the tone that screamed physician. "Carefully! There's potentially decades worth of atrophy to contend with."

Her heartbeat spiked. Decades? What did he mean by decades?

A woman, not Kelly, said, "Wish we had more time."

"I don't disagree." There was some sort of movement in front of her face and she could suddenly see. Just an overhead light and a man's spectacled face, but it was far and away better than the murky twilight she'd been in. He continued. "But as it stands now we risk losing the patient if we don't begin the removal procedure immediately."

Things were attached to the suit with little hisses of air, but she was too busy thinking over what the doctor had said. Decades. Removal. She tried to control her fear, but she was rapidly losing that fight. Her heart's beating became even more rapid.

The woman spoke again, "We're ready."

Central (she couldn't call him Bradford since she wasn't sure if he was who he said he was) impatiently said, "Good. Then let's get on with it."

She silently agreed.

Then the facemask of her personal prison was detached with a soft sucking sound. All she could do was wheeze because that mask wasn't what was in her mouth. A second face came into view. If Bradford had an older brother that had seen a hard life, she'd believe that was him, not the man she'd worked with in such a terrible situation for three months.

John Bradford, the one she knew anyway, didn't have a brother, older or younger. He didn't have any siblings at all.

The doctor stepped away saying, "Remarkable."

Central leaned in to say in a hushed voice, "Just like twenty years ago."

Vanessa phased out what else they were saying. Twenty years? Twenty years? _Decades._ How could that be? It couldn't be true. This must be the start of the aliens' experiment on her. And they knew how to crush her with the thought of her failure.

No!

She'd endure, somehow. Even if she wasn't a soldier. She _knew_ that XCOM would come for her even if her second-in-command who had become a friend was dead like she remembered from the attack.

The doctor's voice drew her attention with the words "cranial intrusion".

In his hand he lifted a device she couldn't begin to identify one that glowed with blue light then poked at something to cause it to eject a hollow metal bar. Her mind flashed to another situation, that room filled with an unnatural green light and a thin man, an alien infiltration unit that on a passing glance could pass for human, with something that looked like a deep sea creature.

Vanessa would have screamed in pain and fear as her mind mixed what had happened in memory of _things_ being put into her with what seemed to be those very implants getting removed. Yet the screams were only in her mind, her throat couldn't even produce the whines that had embarrassed her earlier.

She could hear the three voices discussing her erratic vitals. Good. If she were still in the aliens' hands, she wanted to die.

Only she didn't.

As they remove the last of the implants with a cleaner version of the deep sea creature, her mind filled with memories of the destruction she saw the aliens inflict upon her world. Then there was a flash of an image of one of the thin men shaking hands with a human man.

The aliens had won?

It was too much and she let herself fall into blackness again. A different one than before. A more permanent one.

Yet she still couldn't escape. An inhuman form in bright red robes appeared in the darkness, it raised a hand. A flare of purple energy touched her then she was back on the operating table, but at least it seemed like she was finally out of that damned suit.

She blinked as a penlight flashed in her eyes and the doctor commented about her responses and her vitals seemed to have stabilized.

Central leaned back over her with a tight grim grin, "I told them it would take more than that to keep you down. Welcome back. Commander."

The way he said Commander, she knew. It was John Bradford.

Twenty years. The aliens won. What did they do to her?

It was too much. She fled back to the welcoming darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

_**January 30, 2035**_

 _ **08:11 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, French Countryside**_

Agony wracking her body woke her. It felt like a semi ran her over then backed up to finish the job. As she carefully blinked her eyes open, she caught a glimpse of a monitor nearby, then she realized she was actually on a soft surface and looked down to see that she was in a bed, covered with a white sheet.

Bradford softly commented from where he was stationed to her right. "Glad to see you're finally coming out of it. Don't envy the headache you must have though."

Carefully rolling her jaw to see if it were mobile again, she turned towards his voice, she managed to croak out. "John. Brad. Ford?"

He nodded. "It's me, Commander."

Life hadn't been kind to him judging how battered and scarred he looked. Not to mention the stubble around his mouth and jaw where he used to go clean shaven. The grey checked shirt with green sleeves over grey cargo pants tucked into black combat boots was a new look on him, but she liked the more casual look on him. Even if the clothing had a worn look to it. The holster around his shoulders holding a pistol and combat knife showed signs of regular use.

Twenty years. She could almost believe it after seeing how the man had let himself go somewhat. Oh, his hair was still kept short, and his uniform was clean, but this John Bradford wasn't the crisp soldier she'd known.

Even worse, he was calling her Commander rather than by her name the way she was used to when they were in private or closeted with the other senior staff.

Despite the rough callouses on his hands, his grip was gentle as he helped her sit up with a pillow between her back and the wall since she was having a difficult time moving due to the way her muscles protested at every movement. Then he handed her a couple of pills with a glass of water. "For the pain. Can't fault Dr. Tygan for that since no one's ever attempted a procedure like that before."

Normally she wouldn't have been enthused to take medication of unknown origin, but at that moment she hurt enough to accept it. Besides, it was Bradford. He'd gone to the effort to retrieve her or whatever so it wasn't like he'd have reason to give her something that would cause her harm.

Vanessa was pleased that she was able to down the pills on her own. Even if it took both hands to hold the glass to wash down the bitter tasting medicine. Not wanting to stay in bed while she attempted to talk with Bradford, she tried to swivel so she could get up into a proper sitting position. Her body screamed in protest with the idea of moving, but she ignored it. Since it felt like she was dressed in t-shirt and shorts, Vanessa wasn't too worried about embarrassing them both by accidentally revealing anything.

To her surprise, he lightly put his hands on her shoulders to keep her in bed. "Easy. We're still not entirely sure what they did to you. "

A somewhat snarky reply roiled around in her abused brain, but she kept it under wraps. She wasn't sure if he'd still appreciate her sarcasm.

Bradford gestured to the nearby monitor which obligingly brought up an image of what looked like a house key with two slim spikes on either side. _That_ was one of the things they removed from her? Christ. She didn't attempt to hide her dismay or revulsion as he spoke gently. "That chip was buried halfway into your skull."

When the image shifted to show where it'd been shoved into her brain, she had to look away. Vanessa knew she had to read the detailed report, but that would be in the far future. When she was alone where she could vomit as needed. Unlike the first time she saw a chryssalid "implant" a person with its embryo, where she lost all memory of food into a nearby trashcan in Mission Control.

Swallowing back the bile that threatened to come up from watching that little display, she looked around the room to distract herself a little. Vanessa couldn't bring herself to look at the man at her side again just yet. The way he looked at her was more than a little disturbing. He wasn't threatening at all. Quite the contrary.

He looked as if she were an answer to all of his prayers. Instead she asked one of the questions that was bothering her all this time in a hoarse whisper. "Twenty years?"

A feather light touch on her upper arm caused her to look up and meet Bradford's sympathetic gaze. "Know it's hard to believe, but it is true."

She dropped her eyes from his, struggling with the whole situation when she spotted the small case of mementos. A picture of her with Shen, Vahlen and Bradford, another of her most senior troopers, models of an interceptor and skyranger. A faint smile crossed her face at the alien skull given its own pride of place. Not for the first time she was grateful for his patience with her as he stood next to the bed letting her sort her thoughts at her own pace. She'd lost count of all the times he'd done the same before…

Her mind shied away, though a treacherous part whispered about decades.

The real question was: Were her thoughts actually her own? How did they know she wasn't some sort of sleeper agent? Hadn't they learned from how the old HQ got compromised? "Why. Not. Secure. Room?"

He gestured at her prone figure. "Right now, you're not in any shape to cause trouble."

She really wanted to scowl at him, but couldn't because he was right. "Sleeper."

Damn her screwed up mouth and throat, she should be able to have a proper conversation. Or at least be able to force out something approximating a normal sentence when she could think clearly.

"Thinking about what happened at the headquarters all those years ago?"

It was only days for her. Or felt like days. Rather than strain herself, she kept to a simple, "Yes."

To his credit he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest as he thought about it. Realizing that her mouth and throat felt like sandpaper, she took a long drink of water. That she was able to hold the glass with one hand pleased her greatly. When she finished her drink, he spoke thoughtfully. "Don't believe so. If they were going to do anything like that, they would've arranged for us to get you before this."

"So you were looking for me all this time?" So it was just being thirsty then. And not suffering from stroke-like effects from that chip getting dug out of her grey matter.

Bradford started to move around a little restlessly, now avoiding her eyes as he replied, "Yeah. Hear rumors now and again, tried to act on the credible ones." He paused for a moment. He suddenly looked a little haunted. "Lost a lot of good soldiers looking for you over the years. Almost gave up hope you were still out there. Acted on the intel as soon as I got word."

Her hand clenched on the glass, it was a good thing that she was so weak, otherwise it might have shattered from the pressure she normally would have exerted. "You kept looking for me? Why? There had to be other people that…"

The stricken look he gave her caused her to stop her rant. "It's like I told you back when you came on board, Commander. You're better than you think you are. Harder to replace than you think." He started to walk around the bed. "Not sure what you remember, but a lot's changed." He paused at the foot and held his hands out almost helplessly, "Did the best I could…but the last 20 years have been tough without you."

Central began to amble to the door again, then gestured at the rather sizable monitor on the wall. "You, ah, feel like catching up, Shen has the archive up and running on your terminal."

Carefully, she looked between him and the terminal that had the familiar XCOM logo rotating on its screen. Just a few days ago she would've joked about him being too busy to brief her, but it wasn't a matter of days anymore. She gave a slow, cautious nod.

He started edging towards the door. "Otherwise, I'd go see Dr. Tygan when you're ready. There's some things you should know. He'll be better at explaining them than me."

Right there she felt the gap of the years between them. Undoubtedly he had better things to do than babysit her like he did before. Just before he fled the room, he paused and gave her a slight smile. "It's damn good to have you back. Commander."

Then he was gone before she could reply

She looked around at the room which was fairly sizable. Far bigger than what she had at HQ.

Beside the terminal taking up most of a wall, and the now sleeping monitor on the other side, there looked to be a good sized L-shaped desk, and the middle of the room was a circle of large circular sofas positioned around a higher than normal circular coffee table. On the other side of her bed was a bookcase that was only partially filled with books.

She said into the silent room, "I'm so confused."

First John seemed eager to talk to her, then it seemed like he wanted to run. Take it easy, then get up and talk to people. He'd been so…skittish. Around her. She'd never imagine Central Officer John Bradford, the man who had put up with so much of her shit, to be _skittish_. Of her.

For a moment she slumped against the wall, "Van girl, you're in something worse than jumping out of the frying pan into the fire."

Since the edge of the desk was so close to the bed, she took a chance on stretching out to set the glass in place. A small smile curved her lips when neither the glass nor she fell. Her muscles still ached in protest, but they were working.

Getting out of bed proved to be a ridiculously difficult endeavor. Worse than what it was normally like for her. Feeling rather lightheaded, she somehow managed to wobble over to the seat at the terminal. Thankfully some kind soul, Dr. Shen maybe, had taken into account that she wouldn't be familiar with modern controls as she started to look through the archives for some answers.

An hour later she put the terminal back into standby mode. She'd barely scratched the surface of everything she'd missed, but she'd learned enough. Almost too much.

She slumped in her seat then rested her face in the palms of her hands as she braced her elbows on the surface of the desk.

It was one thing to surmise the aliens had won. It was quite another to actually see the footage. She could read between the lines of the propaganda put out by the ADVENT administration that ran the world now. Sure they seemed benevolent on the surface, but taking one look at their supposed peacekeepers told her volumes. You didn't put your typical cop-equivalent in heavy mil-spec armor like that. It seemed odd that only their mouths were exposed the way they were.

No one had said anything, but it was pretty obvious to her that it was expected for her to rebuild XCOM so they could drive the aliens off. She couldn't help to give voice to a slightly hysterical laugh at the thought. That certainly explained Central's attitude around her. He probably realized that he'd overblown her abilities in his mind over the years and confronting reality broke his mental rose colored glasses.

Her stomach cramped and gurgled at the same time reminding her of her terrible habit of ignoring her body when doing research. Not to mention the whole lack of solid food for however long.

Right then. Certain physical requirements were her current priority before she hunted down this Dr. Tygan. Maybe she'd be able to track down Dr. Shen. She'd hoped he'd come to see her, but maybe he didn't remember her the way Central seemed to. Hopefully he remembered her at least somewhat fondly. She thought they'd always gotten along very well.

God knew, she could use a friendly face right now.

As she got out of the chair, she stubbed her left foot on something hard. Cursing loudly, she hopped a bit on her uninjured right. All of which set her head to protesting the movement. Once her foot settled to just throbbing uncomfortably, she looked down at the object that set her off.

A mini-fridge.

Yep, the room had been designed by a man. She'd figured that from the furniture, but only a man would leave something like that where a person was likely to kick it, most likely with a bare foot. Knowing she was being unfair to men in general, but not feeling apologetic about it, she decided to investigate the thing expecting it to be empty, or full of sodas.

She frowned at the contents. There were cans in there, but they didn't look like contained soda. Curious, she grabbed one and studied the label. Some sort of protein shake. Ugh. But it was better than trying to find the mess in this place.

The smell made her grimace as she cracked it open. Before she changed her mind she chugged it down. Where it promptly sat like a pile of molten lead. Well, she wasn't hungry anymore, right?

Shaking her head, not realizing that it didn't ache so much, she went search of some proper clothes so she could go exploring whatever this place was.


	4. Chapter 4

_**January 29, 2035**_

 _ **10:15 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, French Countryside**_

Pulling on a simple jumpsuit shouldn't have been so difficult or exhausting. She had to sit down halfway through to catch her breath. It also took two more of those vile protein shakes to help get her going since it seemed that her stomach had been replaced by a bottomless pit. Though the third one didn't taste that bad, which meant she was getting used to the taste of those things. Double ugh.

Washing up a bit and brushing her teeth in the small attached bathroom was an adventure Van had no desire to repeat.

Once vaguely presentable, Van studied the small tablet she'd found while hunting down her clothing. The interface wasn't one she was used to, but it seemed simple enough to use. Even better it had a map of the base and internal GPS that told her where she was. Which was good because no one seemed to remember that she didn't know where she was. Or how to find anyone else.

There seemed to be something off about the shape of the place. After sliding the image around a bit she realized that it wasn't a building. It was… a ship of some sort? It must be based off alien tech since she didn't think humanity would've had the means to make something like this without it. Some more poking around at the screen revealed a relatively easy path from her quarters to the research division.

Van really hoped she was up to the task and didn't fall down face first somewhere public.

More than a little nervous, she opened the door to see a young woman standing nearby. She was dressed in fatigues and ballcap with what looked to be a sword hilt poking up over one shoulder. The soldier seemed a little surprised to see her judging by the way she snapped to attention and said, "Commander!"

That voice sounded familiar so she decided to hazard a guess and hoped she didn't offend the woman by not using a specific rank since she didn't see any tabs to go by, "Operative Kelly?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

Well, bully for her, it looked like she hadn't offended the other woman and got the name right. "I vaguely recall hearing Central addressing you and I thought I recognized your voice."

Kelly seemed to straighten up even more and her eyes seemed to brighten a bit. "Thank you, ma'am. Is there something I can help you with, Commander?"

Damn, she'd underestimated Bradford. Again. He had arranged for a replacement babysitter. "First of all, you can, er rest or whatever the term is. I'm afraid I never did have a chance to learn the proper nomenclature."

That earned her a small smile as the soldier did relax. "I can't help it I'm afraid. It's the way Da trained me. We're not really a military force like what you'd be familiar with."

Well, she was far more familiar with older militaries rather than modern units. What had been modern for what she still considered current day. Now it was past history.

God, this was rough.

"If I won't be taking you from guard duty, I wouldn't mind a guide. I think I figured out how to get to Dr. Tygan's research area, but having someone who knows the way would be best."

Kelly brightened. "Yes, ma'am. That's why I'm here, in case you needed any kind of help. If you'll pardon me, are you sure you should be up and moving? From what I saw, you probably should still be on bedrest."

And go even more insane from being alone with her own thoughts circling about? Oh hell no. "I'm sure I'll survive if we take it easy."

The soldier eyeballed her, then gave a faint shrug, "If you say so, Commander. C'mon, I'll show the easiest way down that shouldn't be too hard on you."

While they strolled along, Van tried to figure out what was nagging her about her companion. Besides being part of the rescue party, there seemed something else familiar about the woman. "I hope you don't mind if I say this, but for some reason you remind me of someone I know, but I can't place who."

That earned her a warm smile. "Probably my Da, Commander. Adam Kelly."

It felt good to find another link to what she considered her proper life since Adam had been one of her best troopers. Yet it was weird to have the daughter of one of her former troopers working with her. One that didn't look much younger than her. "If I may, how is your father doing?"

"Well enough, still doing what he can to help with the Resistance. It'll give him a lot of heart to know that you're back."

God, what have they been telling people about her?

Not wanting to encounter any further conversational pitfalls, she just nodded and kept quiet.

Which proved to be wise because she was trying not to pant from the effort of walking by the time they arrived at the science section. Pure stubborn pride was all that was keeping her on her feet.

Kelly took a good long look at her as she lightly chewed on her lower lip, but kept her comment limited to, "I'll be out here when you need me, Commander."

"Thank you."

The first thing she saw was a massive green structure containing a brilliant yellow light that was pulsating in an oddly pleasing way. A tall, lanky, bald dark skinned man dressed in a white and green lab coat stood before the structure with his hands clasped behind his back. Not surprisingly it dwarfed him. Without turning towards her, he commented, "Impressive, isn't it? Capable of generating immense power, yet completely harmless to human life."

He turned to her and she recognized him as the spectacled man who had worked on her when Central brought her in. "If only the same could be said for the rest of their technology, Commander."

Resisting the urge to rub at the suddenly itching incision on the back of her head, Van nodded. He walked over and held out his hand, "Dr. Richard Tygan. Chief Science Officer. Welcome to my lab, such as it is."

She clasped his warm dry hand and hoped hers didn't feel like a dead fish to him. "Nice to meet you, Doctor. And thank you for all of your hard work a few days ago."

The solemn looking man nodded, then gestured over to what appeared to be his work space. Of course one of the screens would have images of her skull and that damn chip. "Take a seat, Commander. I want to see how you're doing."

Unlike other exams she'd had in the past, this was brisk, efficient and not humiliating since he kept it limited to her head. Van was somewhat fascinated by the device he used to scan her head since it was a small hand item completely unlike the massive MRI and CT Scan machines she remembered. She considered the image that came up before them as Tygan thoughtfully manipulated it so he could view the image of her brain from all angles.

She was no medical doctor, but she'd seen her share similar scans. As far as she could see her brain seemed intact. Which was good. Yet on the other hand, there should've been some sort of damage from the removal of that damned chip. "So I guess I'll live for now, doctor?"

"Absolutely, Commander. It's amazing really. There seems to be no harm done in removing the chip."

"How is that even possible? I remember hearing you say something about the implants being designed not to be removed. Shouldn't that have done some of damage?"

He hesitated. Sinking into the back of the chair, she sighed a bit. "It's all right, Doctor. I need to know what they did to me."

"At this point, I'm not entirely sure. While I do pride myself on my skills, I'll confess to being somewhat baffled at your swift recovery. I expected you to remain bedbound for quite some time."

Her stomach clenched with dread. "Doctor. What did they do to me? Am I even still…"

As much as she needed to know the information, she couldn't bring herself to finish the question about her humanity. The images of some of the abductees her people had found still haunted her.

"Still human?"

Van nodded numbly.

He gave her an oddly gentle smile and even patted her shoulder, "In that case, Commander, you can rest assured that you are still one hundred percent human. Though there are signs of gene therapy. Nothing harmful, completely the opposite in fact. They repaired, or removed, any genes that may cause disease or other bodily impairments. And apparently improved recuperative ability."

Christ, if they made her superhuman why did she feel like she was distinctly subhuman at the moment?

That feeling must have shown when Tygan frowned at her. "Commander, how much has Central told you?"

"That you dug a chip out of my head that was buried halfway into my brain. So that's why I'm worried about what else they may have done. I'm well aware that I should be more like a stroke victim than feeling like I'm recovering from, say, a week long bender."

He stared at her for a moment. "That's certainly one way of putting it."

"Do you have any idea of what it's meant for?"

"Not yet. I don't have the lab setup I had during my tenure with ADVENT so I can't get an analysis right away. But I think I can give you some preliminary information within a few days."

The way he said it made her smile slightly. Pulling out her tablet to make a note to herself she idly commented. "Sounds good to me. So, you need research assistants and a budget?"

"I…wouldn't have said it in that manner, Commander, but yes. Right now I'm but one man. I'm doing what I can, but it is somewhat difficult."

"I'll have to meet with Central to see what we have to work with and see what I can do."

The way he peered at her over his glasses made her give him a crooked grin. "First, sit down, you're making me get a crick in my neck looking up at you, and I'm not feeling up to standing for very long right at this moment."

He tapped at the screen he was standing at to turn it off before sitting down. She nodded slightly in approval. "Thank you. When it comes to research, I'm aware of how valuable a good team is, not just doing my own research, but recent experience in XCOM."

Shit, she mentally berated herself as an awkward silence between them, because XCOM wasn't so recent anymore. So she changed the subject. "If I may, Doctor, how did you end up joining XCOM?"

"I was a biochemist doing research for a very lucrative pharmaceutical company. Once the ADVENT administration took over I didn't have anywhere else to use my knowledge and skills. At first it was fantastic. The aliens provided so much knowledge about gene manipulation that so many conditions that would normally be terminal became treatable. It was…humbling to see the good that was being done." He looked away and his shoulders slumped slightly, "Then seeing the way they were twisting my work, and the increasing iron fist that was being exerted on the people… I sought a way out. I soon came into touch with the growing resistance. I eventually ended up here."

Well, that was interesting. Maybe he really was able to run the tests to see that the aliens hadn't exerted some sort of control over her. "Thank you, doctor, I really do appreciate you telling me that."

"If I may ask the same about you, Commander. Central has been quick to talk about the time you were running the original XCOM, but always evaded your own history."

Right. As soon as she finished seeing what was going on with Shen, she was definitely having a chat with Central about how he was presenting her. "That's only fair. I'm a historian that specialized in the clash of cultures when one technological superior people encountered one less advanced. "

Tygan's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, so she kept going. "I decided to base my thesis on what would happen if a technologically advanced alien species made contact with us. Including a range of attitudes from vaguely friendly to outright malice. That got someone's attention because I ended up in a privately owned think tank that came up with military scenarios in the incredibly unlikely case of an alien invasion. I did that for about five years. One evening at the start of the invasion, a couple of very nice soldiers showed up at my apartment door. After a long series of plane fights, I found myself getting sworn in as XCOM's commander."

"I will confess, I did not expect that. Though that does explain some things I had wondered about." Then he fixed a stern gaze on her. "But that is enough for now, Commander. Since I'm your only physician at this time, I'm going to very _strongly_ advise that you go back to bed and rest."

She levered herself to her feet somehow and used her mule headed stubbornness to stay that way. "I will later, Doctor, but I apparently spent twenty years doing that and it's time I got on with my job."

Tygan shook his head. "No wonder Central goes on about you the way he does. The two of you are the kind of patients that every doctor dreads and why I wanted to go into research into the first place."

Vanessa laughed a little. "I'll talk to you later, Doctor and let you get on with your work."

Kelly was already waiting for her in the corridor when she came out of science division. The young woman considered her for a long moment, then asked, "Where to, ma'am?"

"Engineering. I need to speak with Dr. Shen. I'm not quite sure why he's been avoiding me."

The soldier's expression told her that something was wrong, but all Kelly said was, "You know that's on the other side of the ship, ma'am?"

"I do. If we take it slow again, I'll be fine."

This time Kelly didn't even try to hide her doubt as she replied. "Yes, ma'am."


	5. Chapter 5

_**January 29, 2035**_

 _ **11:20 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, French Countryside**_

The trip to Engineering proved to be easier than Van had expected. While she did have to keep to a slower pace than she cared for, she wasn't as winded as she had been when she arrived at Research.

She really hoped that Operative Kelly didn't hear how badly her stomach was gurgling. That meant finding the mess first before having her little chat with Bradford. Sure there were the protein shakes back in her quarters, but if she went back there now, she would pass out on the bed instead.

When she arrived there were a group of techs in grey and black jumpsuits that were working on some unknown object that hissed and crackled with electricity. After making sure there wouldn't be any problems, she raised her voice slightly to say, "Hello."

One of the techs looked up, his eyes widened. There were a couple of surreptitious looks in her direction from the others, but they seemed mainly focused on their project. He asked, "Commander? You're here to see the chief?"

At her nod, he briefly freed one hand to gesture at a door behind him, "Back there, ma'am. Sorry, a bit busy at the moment."

She thanked him, but didn't think he was paying much attention to anything except whatever the group was trying to repair. Van didn't expect to find a woman of Asian descent around her age. She was dressed in black cargo pants with an orange XCOM t-shirt topped with a vest with a good number of pockets, with some sort of tattoo on her upper right arm. The engineer, at least that's what Van presumed the woman to be, was hunched over some sort of beat up metallic boxy thing that had had orange accents and crudely painted on the top was Rov-R and wrenching something into place.

For some reason the woman's voice sounded familiar.

Van stepped back a bit when it suddenly popped open into…a robot of some sort? That immediately hopped up into the air and started buzzing around. It blinked its video-camera eyes and zoomed over to her curiously. The woman looked in shock in her direction. "Commander!"

Rov-R buzzed by Van again, then abruptly stopped and more slowly circled around her. Van could almost swear it was curious about her. The engineer rubbed the back of her head and said somewhat chagrined, "Sorry about that. Rov-R get back over here."

It circled around Van one more time before very slowly swooping back.

"No harm done, Ms.?"

The woman gave her a cautious smile. "Lily Shen, Chief Engineer, at your service."

Van couldn't hide her shock. She remembered how Dr. Shen had spoken with such pride of his brilliant, beautiful daughter. His fifteen year old daughter. Which meant that Shen's kid was physically older than she was.

The smile faded into sorrow. "I guess you were expecting my dad. What with everything going on, no one's told you…" Lily took a deep breath and let it out, "Dad. He's. Gone."

She'd been half expecting that, but at the same time it was really damn hard to hear the news. She reached out a hand to the engineer, "I'm so sorry to hear that. Your father is one of the finest people I've known. Not only was he one of the best engineers I've ever known, he was also very compassionate and thoughtful man."

That got her a watery smile, "Thank you, Commander."

Dr. Shen had also been one of the few willing to discuss the ramifications of the aliens' presence on earth with her. It felt like he'd been one of the few people who appreciated her ethical concerns about the path they were going to fight the aliens.

Lily spread out her hands to start gesturing at different monitors showing parts of the ship. "Dad gave everything he had to get us this far. This entire ship, Avenger, is his life's work. I know he would've loved to show you around the place himself." She paused and looked away. "He used to talk about you a lot."

So the ship was called Avenger? That was appropriate. Hoping that she was reading Lily right, Van said, "Well, why don't we grab lunch then you can show me around yourself." She gave a watery smile of her own, "Or maybe I should say, you can start the tour by leading me to the mess."

Lily gave her a sideways look. "Are you sure, Commander?"

"Yes, because if there weren't so many shop noises going on, you'd be hearing my stomach complaining about the fact I've only had some protein shakes since waking up this morning."

There was a quiet laugh. "All right, Commander. If you'll follow me."

As the two walked, with Lily doing most of the talking, Van was happy to see the animation returning to the engineer's face and movement. Though that was tinged by pain at the loss of another friend. Dr. Shen had been similarly animated when he had a project that caught his imagination. One unexpected side effect of the conversation was getting brought up to date on what technology was available these days. Van was no engineer or scientist, but she had always enjoyed playing with different tech gadgets.

It was one of the reasons why she was able to stretch the budget of her think tank. Instead of getting gouged for the computers they needed for their simulations, they just built their own. Since they weren't government employees, but a private business, they could get away with that.

Which prompted her next question when the opportunity came up. "Your Rov-R, what is he? Some sort of robot?"

"He's what we call a gremlin. A specialized drone that can be used for different tasks. Say remote hacking or even delivering emergency medical care from one of our medkits."

"That's amazing. I can see you've put a lot of work into him."

Lily smiled. "He was the first gremlin I ever built. I just keep rebuilding him as time goes on and I have new modifications to add on."

By then they were near the mess and Van was surprised to smell savory aromas. She'd been expecting more along the lines of MREs rather than actual cooked food.

Lily commented. "It's nothing fancy, but it is good."

Lunch proved to be the choice between a venison burger and chicken soup. The other two went for the burgers. Not sure how her stomach would handle solid food, she opted for soup, with more broth than solid ingredients. While Kelly remained nearby, she had gently declined joining their conversation, much like she had when Van had been talking with Lily.

After eating some of her burger, while Van was eating slowly so as to not upset her stomach, Lily commented. "I've never been in one of the city centers, so I haven't had one of those ADVENT burgers that Dr. Tygan likes to talk about, but there's some questions that no one seems to be asking about them."

"Such as?"

"Like the fact that no one has seen a cow in years. So what are the burgers actually made of?"

Without thinking about it, Van said, "I hope it's not Soyelent Green then."

"What's that?

"An old movie, but one that is probably best not discussed over lunch." She fished out her tablet. "So beside the usual need for people and material, are there any special requirements I should bring up with Central when discussing what resources we have available?"

Lily brightened. "Yes! There's a hybrid magnetic power converter that we could really use. It'll make it easier for our tech to talk to the aliens' stuff. I've talked with Central about it, but I don't think it's a big priority for him."

"He seems to have a lot on his mind."

"Less now that you're here, Commander."

Strange that Lily would say something along the lines Bradford had. She had a hard time believing that a man like Bradford would have a difficult time running XCOM. After all, it was basically his baby. From what she understood, he'd been the one to keep the project up to date in case it did have to be activated.

Because Van found she liked the woman, Lily had her father's zest, even if she didn't have his restraint. Van said, "Please, call me Vanessa. After all, you're a part of my senior staff."

A bright smile bloomed. "All right, Vanessa. I also want you to know that anything you need built, my workshop will be more than capable of doing so."

Van nodded. "I wouldn't have expected anything else considering that you seem as dedicated, if not more so, than your father."

Then she realized where she heard Lily's voice before. "If I remember correctly, I think I heard your voice when I was first brought on the ship."

"Yeah," Lily said slowly. "I was helping Tygan with some of the more advanced technical details of the stasis suit that you were in."

"Thank you for your help with that, then. It sounded… difficult."

"When they pulled the last of the implants out of you… I won't lie, I hope I never see anything like that ever again. But you're welcome."

A soft chime sounded with a faint light on Lily's left wrist. "Dammit. Sorry, but I'm going to have to finish the tour later, I'm needed downstairs."

"Of course, Lily. It was a pleasure to meet you and thank you for all of your time."

Van finished eating in silence when Kelly continued to seem disinclined to talk. Which was just as well, there was a lot to think over. For a moment, she seriously considered going to her quarters for a nap, but was afraid she'd never want to get back up. She couldn't let herself do that, there were too many hopes resting on her actions.

There was also the fact she wanted to get started on getting revenge on the aliens for everything they'd done.

With everything ripped away from her, hate was a great motivator to keep moving.

Which reminded her of something she wanted to ask as she made her way to Mission Control. "Ms. Kelly, I have a favor I'd like to ask."

"What did you have in mind, Commander?"

"I'd like some proper training in something more than a pistol to defend myself."

The soldier stopped dead to study her. Van shrugged. "I'm not looking to be trained as one of the troops, but I want to be able to protect myself. I won't let the aliens get me again."

A fierce kind of approval filled the other woman's dark eyes. "Sure thing, ma'am. Soon as the doc clears you for regular duty, we'll start training you in weapons and armor."

"Thank you, but we?"

"The troops, Commander. We'll all make sure you get taken care off."

She marveled over that as they resumed walking since she didn't think asking for training would generate that kind of approval.


	6. Chapter 6

_**January 29, 2035**_

 _ **12:53 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, French Countryside**_

"Yes, Shen, as soon as we have more information about the Thing, you'll be the first to know," Bradford said irritably as he limped around Mission Control trying not to let that spill over to the nearby crew. He was well aware that this energy thing was important to getting the Avenger up and running properly and trying to get the damn located. However Shen's daily checks on the status were getting really old.

" _That's not why I'm calling you, Central. I wanted to give you a head's up that the Commander knows about it."_

He stopped dead. "The Commander already talked with you?"

" _Yeah and she saw Tygan before me."_

The lighting of Mission Control turned red as alarms went off and the AI oh so helpfully yelled out, "Attention! Unauthorized presence detected!"

Shen wisely disconnected without saying a word. The staff fell silent at the alarm. Some putting hands on sidearms, but not quite drawing their weapons.

It was a relief to see that the "intruder" was the Commander standing in the doorway and held up one hand, "Commander. Give me a second.'

Vanessa didn't move from where she was, watching him thoughtfully.

Central stumped forward and said, "Execute Echelon Protocol."

One of the scanners focused on Vanessa then the AI spoke, "Attention: Senior Command Exchange Confirmed."

The lighting returned to normal leaving the Commander blinking for a moment and the staff went back to their duties. Which gave him a moment to study the woman before him and felt a moment of guilt. She looked like she'd been dragged face first through hell with her pallor and red rimmed eyes. And of course he'd been the one doing the dragging. Close to literally when he got her out of that tube the aliens had been keeping her in.

She gave him one of those quiet smiles that had always dazzled him as she began to slowly enter the room. "Thank you, Central."

"I was hoping for something a bit more ceremonious, but it seems that current circumstances didn't allow for that." Bradford really didn't like how carefully she was walking, or the way her breathing seemed labored. It seemed that stubbornness he remembered all too well was still there.

The smile broadened a bit, though she kept her voice down where he could only hear her when she asked, "When do they ever? This was actually better than the first time I was introduced to XCOM."

"You do have a point there." He raised his voice to his normal level as he said, "Welcome to this Mission Control, Commander."

Bradford wondered what she was thinking as those dark grey eyes took in the battered appearance of the walls and floor, the way the central hologram of the Earth flickered, the hodgepodge of tech used to set up the workstations. It was a far cry from the cutting edge technology they had in the first one even if the current tech they had was still superior.

One of the men at the at the main screen spoke up, "Sir, we've gotten a report from one of the resistance cells. They've located that power converter Chief Engineer Shen was looking for. They're engaging with the guards now."

Vanessa commented with a suspicious glint in her eyes. "I'm going to assume you have a squad prepped."

It felt strange to have a corner of his mouth twitch into a smile. When was the last time he had reason to do so? "Of course, Commander."

"Then it's time to send them off and scrounge up a headset for me from somewhere."

After sending the orders for Firebrand to lift off with Menace 1-5, he quietly cupped a hand under one of her elbows to offer her some support under the guise of showing her where to take a seat to monitor the feeds that would be coming in. She looked like she was about to pass out. Tygan would kill him if she gave herself a concussion from cracking her head open if she fell on something.

He didn't want to think about the blow to morale that would cause. He already saw a change of attitude in the staff in the room. Not only had they started moving a bit more briskly, there was just a bit more pride in the way they held themselves.

Bradford had to privately admit that he didn't want to lose Vanessa now that he had her back.

Handing her an earpiece that was similar to the old Bluetooth designs for smartphones she would have been used to, he said, "It'll take a couple of hours for Firebrand to get to the location. Maybe you should rest for a bit? I can make sure you're back here in time for the Op."

The Commander settled the small earpiece into place, made sure that it was working before muting it. "Quite sure. The moment I hit my bed I'm likely to sleep for a day and nothing will wake me up."

Given how busy she'd been in the past few hours, he wasn't surprised that she was tired. He also knew that it'd be a bad idea to try to press her on taking a break.

She continued. "If this isn't an outrageous request I could use a steady supply of coffee to keep me going instead."

Bradford snorted. He could feel that smile coming back again. "You mean the coffee flavored milk and sugar that you drink."

"Of course," she replied blandly, the twinkle in her eyes giving her away. "It's the only proper way of drinking coffee. Unlike how you drink yours black as sin."

"Hey, as my dad always said, it puts hair on your chest."

She grinned. "I'm fairly sure I don't need that."

He coughed a little. "Probably not. While you'll have to deal with the powdered creamer, we're not in such bad shape that we have to worry about restricting our coffee. Or sugar for that matter."

She smiled again, but this time, it was devoid of any humor.

He tilted his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

That's when he saw the white knuckled clasp she had her hands in. She glanced away and asked in a whisper he could barely hear. "Are you sure you can trust me with this?"

He gritted his teeth for a moment so he wouldn't yell when he finally asked, "What the hell? I thought we went over this earlier?"

"No one seems to know what the aliens have done to me. How can you be sure that they didn't leave something floating around in my subconscious?"

Damn, he'd forgotten how paranoid she could be. Though she was perfectly justified in this case. "We do have ways of checking for their manipulation so a repeat of the raid on HQ won't happen again."

Vanessa just stared at the screen before her with her jaw clenched against whatever it was she was going to say. He leaned near her. "I might be a broken, old man compared to the man you knew, but you can still talk to me."

She cast her gaze about them. "This isn't the best time or place for a conversation like this."

The Commander took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We're going to need to get our game faces on for the op and you only have two hours to get me caught up to date on how to actually use your current tech." She hesitated, then grimly said, "Keep an eye on me, just in case. Especially since it seems the guard you had on me isn't in here."

Sighing, he ran a hand over his hair as he reminded himself for what seemed like the thousandth time that day that she hadn't had really much time to process what happened to her. How could he convince her that she was still the person he remembered? Time of course. The one thing they probably didn't have enough of. "All right, if it makes you feel better, I'll make sure that you're kept under observation."

She closed her eyes and let her breath out slowly. When she reopened them she softly said, "Thank you. That's a greater relief than you know."

Bradford shrugged a little uncomfortably, not sure what to say. Vanessa looked away for a moment, then back. "I wanted to thank you for the protein shakes that were left for me in my quarters. I don't think I would've been able to get around like I did without them. Even if they have a rather unfortunate taste."

Protein shakes? What? Oh. _Those_. Oh for fuck's sake. Who was the moron who gave those to the Commander of all people? He rubbed the back of his head. "I'd say you're welcome, but they were supposed to be put into the emergency stores because of how they taste. We're not in such dire straits when it comes to keeping our people fed that we have to give them those."

"Oh. Well. I'm glad they were there anyway."

He just shook his head. Only Vanessa would see something like that in a positive manner. Instead of addressing the blasted shakes, he said, "You asked about being shown the systems and I sidetracked you."

When she pulled out the tablet that had been left for her use and she started to take notes on it, he wondered just how much anyone actually needed to teach her. It turned out to be a bit more than he'd expected, but there'd been more changes over the years than he'd realized. Still, most of the time until Firebrand arrived at its destination was spent introducing her to the support staff than having to teach her how to use a computer.

By the time Firebrand approached the drop zone, the Commander was on her feet with a large insulated travel mug with her vile concoction and regarding the terminal with the light of battle in her eyes. She took in what could be picked up of the area in one quick glance. The convoy with the Thing was stopped on what appeared to be a muddy backwoods road covered in snow. In fact there were still large fluffy flakes of the stuff still coasting to the ground.

He eyed one of the side monitors worriedly. It looked like the Thing had been damaged when the Resistance attacked the convoy to halt it in its tracks. Central had the information routed to Shen to see if she had some idea of how to stabilize it remotely.

When he turned his attention back, he saw she was already starting to direct the squad.

"Before you advance any further Menace 1-5, can you tell how fresh those tracks are?" the Commander asked.

There was an eloquent silence from the other end. Bradford tried not to wince, he was used to working with the barely half-trained troops XCOM got these days. These weren't the highly trained and experienced soldiers that she'd be used to. Vanessa just rolled her shoulders slightly. If she were upset, her voice didn't give any hint of it. "Are the tracks mushy or half frozen? Fully frozen? Half filled with snow?"

"Still mushy, ma'am," came Jane "Shieldmaiden's" response. "The falling snow looks like it's melting into the tracks."

"All right, keep an eye on those tracks then. Looks like there's a patrol that comes down that way and they aren't taking any pains to hide their presence."

In her calm, patient way, the Commander had them carefully leapfrog from cover to cover to hide their presence for as long as possible while making sure they made good time to get there before their objective blew up. He kept quiet, except for when new intel came up from the sensors they had in the area.

He hoped the squad would be able to handle her style. She was a much more hands on person when it came to directing them than he was. She wasn't a micromanager by any stretch of the imagination, but she did a lot more than just mere suggestions.

The only time she paused in her instructions was when she saw the sectoid. Like many of the other modern day aliens, this species had human DNA mixed into it so no longer looked like what she knew. Another thing to add to list of stuff he had to go over with her.

Shieldmaiden suddenly clutched her head with one hand and snarled, "Get the fuck out of my head!"

Vanessa's eyes widened when saw it step into view to hiss at the squad threatening it.

Bradford couldn't identify which member of the squad said in an almost panicky voice, "Shit! A sectoid! It's trying to grab Shield!"

Even though she still had a slightly bug eyed look, her voice remained unruffled. "Easy, trooper. Bullets will kill them like anything else. Shieldmaiden is holding fast."

It raised a fist sending a flood of psionic energy into one of the nearby ADVENT trooper corpses. With an eerie groan the thing rose to its feet.

Central shook his head. "Christ, they can't even leave the dead alone."

The Commander didn't say anything, just looked grim as she quietly directed one of the nearby troopers to stabilize the Thing with the fix Shen had uploaded to their tablets, while having the remaining three position themselves to catch the sectoid in their crossfire. It went down in a spray of amber colored ichor as Shen's fix kicked in and the energy readings went to what he'd been told were normal.

Thankfully the dead went back to that condition. Vanessa just nodded slightly to herself.

"Commander, Central," one of the staff spoke up, "the sensors aren't picking up any other hostiles in the AO."

"Excellent work, everyone." She tapped the headpiece to turn it off before removing it and rubbing her ear. "They're all yours from here, Central."

It felt good to fall back into those old habits of wrapping up an op. Especially one that was so successful.

Wanting everyone to hear the report, he transferred the line to the comms in the main terminal. A woman's voice crackled in the air. "Avenger, this is Firebrand. The package is on board with the squad. There are no casualties. Repeat, there are no casualties. We're on our way back to base. ETA 1 hour 53 minutes."

A quiet cheer broke out in the room with applause. The intercom wasn't needed to hear Shen's gleeful whoop in the distance.

Tygan was much more sedate, but still encouraging, in his words. "Great work, Commander. This is an auspicious beginning."

As Bradford had half expected, she'd quietly accepted the congratulations, but had let the majority focus on him since the soldiers weren't there to receive it. She'd never been comfortable taking praise for what she considered to be so routine. Scratch that. Vanessa had a hard time accepting any kind of praise for the success of any mission. She always insisted that all of the recognition go to the soldiers who did the actual work.

It may have been a small operation, but it was the first one in years that had gone like clockwork. No matter what he did, it always seemed like something would go disastrously wrong. The op usually succeeded, but at a terrible cost. It always seemed that the Commander had a clear eyed vision of just what to do. Bradford had always wondered how she'd been able to keep her composure the way she did. He supposed her childhood probably contributed to that.

That's when he noticed Vanessa slumped in her chair. At first he thought she'd fallen asleep, which she clearly needed, until she tilted her head and he could see she was frowning at something.

When he got closer, Bradford saw a still picture of the sectoid on her tablet. "What's wrong, Commander?"

"They called this a sectoid. Only it's not a meter high humanoid with weird burnt orange eyes and no mouth. It's still pink and hairless." Her voice took on a tone of disgusted fascination. "But it's like they fed it steroids then replaced its head with a human skull complete with creepy grin then slapped eyeballs into the sockets and covered the whole thing with skin."

Bradford rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand so he wouldn't laugh. He thought she was joking, but it was a little hard to tell. "Yeah, they're a bit different from what you dealt with. Over the last couple of decades the aliens have been mixing in human DNA into their forces."

For a moment her face seemed to blanch of all blood, but then she blew out her breath and her color returned to normal. Almost normal. She was still too pale.

"Hm, so maybe more like human growth hormones then plain steroids. In that case, they clearly didn't pay attention to how that can go horribly wrong."

A quiet chuckle escaped him. The way her humor manifested itself in comments like that were one of the things he'd missed most. Behind him the staff went quiet causing her to peer around him into the room. "Yes, you can freely spread word about my commentary on the sectoid. I really do have a lot to catch up on."

Bradford almost laughed again at the expressions on their faces before the techs went back to work. He could almost hear the gossip going into high gear. They hadn't expected her humor. He should have remembered it, it had always been a part of her charm.

She turned back to him with a sly grin, but she kept voice down so only he could hear her. "Damn, Bradford, you turned into a hard nut to crack."

He shrugged a little. "There hasn't been a lot to laugh about."

Vanessa looked away. "I'm sorry, that was thoughtless."

Bradford took the chance to lightly place his hand on her shoulder. This XCOM may not be the military, but he still kept a certain amount of decorum and he didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression. Yet, in this case they both needed the reassurance of friendly contact. "Don't be. We both have a lot to learn."

One pale hand came up to touch the back of his. She didn't say anything, but at that moment nothing needed to be said.


	7. Chapter 7

_**January 29, 2035**_

 _ **14:00 Central European Time**_

 _ **Firebrand, French Countryside**_

"Well, Jane, you sure you're up to this?" Kay Harkes asked. She had a face that was harsh planes and angles under the most unlikely pixie cut dyed a brilliant blue.

"Little late to be asking me that now that Firebrand is enroute."

Harkes snorted, "Not too late to turn around."

"I'm pretty sure Central would kill us if we did that. Anyway, yes I' fit for duty, keeping a watch on the Commander wasn't too difficult, she doesn't seem to be feeling too spry at the moment."

"So, Jane, what's the Commander like?" Jim Worley asked curiously. Apparently the big guy with long curly brown hair and wild beard had been put up to the question by someone. She eyed Geoff Hause, a man with a houndlike face who kept his black hair neatly trimmed and countered it with a mutonstash, since he seemed to be the most likely one to prod someone into asking that on his behalf. He looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. So she shifted her glance over to Kay.

Kay raised her eyebrows. "What? You knew one of us was gonna ask at some point since you decided to be the first to keep an eye on the woman."

Jane did expect one of them to ask, but much sooner than this. They'd all been curious over this woman that Central had a strange obsession about. Then again, her Da, not to mention his few remaining buddies from XCOM, seemed to hold her with a quiet awe.

Since she was thinking of Da, she remembered his advice about how you talked about officers. Sure, they weren't actually a proper armed forces unit, but it was still best to be careful. So Jane thought over what she'd seen that day. "If she were a new recruit, I'd say she has a lot of promise. Smart. Not just bookish, but sharp. Pays attention to what's around her."

"Huh," Geoff grunted thoughtfully. "Still think she might be used by the aliens for something?"

That was the sticky part of the whole thing and why she had gotten the other soldiers to agree to keep a watch on this Commander. It seemed strange that word of her would suddenly result in them finding her. Then there was all the shit that Doc Tygan dug out of the poor woman's skull. "I want her to be who Central thinks she is. I guess we'll have a better idea once this raid is over."

The other three nodded and they shifted to discussing the coming mission.

As the skyranger approached the drop zone, a smooth female voice came over their comms, instead of Central. Kay mouthed _Commander?_ Jane nodded. This was going to be interesting. "Menace 1-5, this is Vanessa McKenzie and I'll be directing this Op. I've been informed there's already a complication. When the Resistance hit the convoy they damaged the converter. So it's somewhat unstable."

The four exchanged glances. That sounded bad. Very bad. But they didn't interrupt as the Commander finished her brief. "Chief Shen has put together a fix and it's being uploaded to your tablets now." Her voice turned sardonic as she commented, "So of course now there's now a time crunch before that converter goes. But no pressure."

Worley grinned slightly at her comment. Jane found herself doing the same. It was a serious situation, but at the same time a small bit of humor helped.

The pilot of Firebrand spoke up, "5 minutes to the drop zone."

That was their cue to do one last quick check on their gear and make sure the fast descent ropes were secure. Then it was go time.

Sliding down the rope was one of Jane's favorite moments of any drop. The sense of free fall with the rust of wind in her face. All too soon her boots hit the ground and it was time to get down to business. That was also when things started to get…odd.

Over the comms, the Commander asked about the nearby tracks. They looked at one another in confusion. It was a little surprising that the woman wasn't condescending as she explained what she was looking for in regards to signs of a patrol. Clearly there were gaps in her education.

Then there were the instructions for setting up the ambush. Jane figured they'd go along for the moment until it all went pear shaped. Only it didn't. Instead they had the two ADVENT troopers down before they had a chance to react. Their officer went down shortly after.

All the warning Jane got was the hiss before the stabbing whispers invaded her mind. Clutching her head she screamed, "Get the fuck out of my head!"

Her will proved stronger than what was trying to mind control her. She could hear Worley yell about a sectoid. Then the Commander made a comment about the thing dying like anything else. As the others triangulated around the angry alien, she used her tablet to stabilize the converter.

The fusillade of bullets shredded the creature.

All that she could hear was the panting of her squad and the _shushing_ of the falling snow. The Commander's voice seemed very loud as she said, "There are no further hostiles in the area. Excellent work everyone."

It seemed like an eternity that they stood there looking around, having a hard time registering that the mission was done. Hause shook his head as if to clear it, then sent up a flare to indicate where Firebrand could land. Loading the converter was a stone bitch, but they got it done. Loading up the bodies and supplies were painless in comparison. If a bit messy. Oh well, at least they weren't the ones who had to hose out the skyranger.

They sat quietly while Firebrand climbed into the sky and began the trip back to the Avenger. When she heard the pilot's announcement about the lack of casualties, she laughed. "We did it!"

"Hell yeah!"

"You bet!"

"Yes!"

"Did you see the way that officer's head exploded?"

"And the way that sectoid got shredded?"

After letting the squad work out their excitement at how the mission went, Jane spoke up. "There's one more thing."

Kay frowned at her. "What's wrong?"

"Not wrong. The Commander asked for training in using guns and armor."

Hause shrugged. "And?"

She rubbed the side of her nose. "I agreed that we'd train her."

"We, huh?" Kay asked. "Be kinda awkward to train someone like that to be a soldier, but I think we can probably figure something out."

"Not looking to be a soldier. Just doesn't want to be taken by the aliens again."

Hause spoke up then, a grin lighting up his hound-like features. "In that case we'll train her to be the best damn warrior ever."

Kay snorted at his words. "Something like that." She cocked up an eyebrow. "You agreed to this before the mission?"

"Yeah. I know I wasn't entirely sure of her then, but she had this look of…"She paused frowning trying to find the right word. "Determination. Figured this would make it easier to keep an eye on her as well as getting to know her."

"Seems fair," Worley replied. "You said you weren't entirely sure of her then."

"She could've screwed us badly on this op. Besides the weirdness about those tracks, the Commander had her shit together about getting things done."

There were nods all around. Kay asked, "We keeping up the watch?"

"For now, until we've got her trained up."

For a short time they discussed the Commander's training that soon shifted to training in general. It was agreed they really needed professionals who knew what they were doing, but how would they find someone like that in the world they lived in? Somehow that ended up being a suggestion for Jane to bring up to Central.

When Firebrand landed and opened its ramp, they were grinning again at the success of their mission. Standing nearby was the Commander with Central at her side. Taking in the pale complexion with the dark bags under the eyes and the grim set to her mouth, Jane wondered how the Commander was still standing.

Until the woman smiled at them and started walking to the squad. That smile seemed to light up the world. Without thinking about it, Jane stood to attention and saluted her Commander. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the rest of the squad do the same. The Commander's smile brightened as she returned the salute. Then McKenzie lowered her hand and extended it to her.

Jane cautiously shook hands with the Commander. Even though the grasp was firm, the pallor and faint chill told her that this woman had no business being out of bed. When the shake ended, the Commander spoke to all of them. "I am truly impressed by your actions out in the field today. I can't guarantee that you'll always get out unscathed, but I'll do my best to make sure you do."

Yep, definitely not military, but the honesty was refreshing. "Thank you, ma'am."

McKenzie nodded and stepped back. "I'll leave you and your squad to your well-earned rest."

Now she had some idea of why Da and his buddies had hopes of finding her again. Then she saw how Central looked at the Commander as she walked up to him. The warm smile the Commander gave him in return that completely transformed that pale, plain face. The smile she'd given the squad had nothing compared to this and she could see Central responding to that look.

When had the old man ever smiled like that? She expected his face to shatter from smiling since she'd never seen him do that before.

"Huh, what about that?" Kay asked next to her.

"Harkes," she growled warningly.

The other woman grunted. "I'm not going to say anything, but you know the guys aren't as clueless as they like to pretend."

"Don't encourage it."

"I won't."

"Good." She scrubbed her face. Just what she needed. Potential gossip of the two people leading what was left of XCOM.

Then the Commander turned almost translucent as she swayed on her feet. Central grabbed her shoulder in time to keep her from collapsing. He said something to her that Jane couldn't hear that caused the Commander to nod in return. She had to give Central credit though, the man was pretty subtle in how he supported the woman in walking out of the hanger.

Harkes made a thoughtful sound, but didn't otherwise comment.

Some of Shen's people came out dragging a massive flatbed cart behind them. Jane was grateful for the distraction from what she'd just seen. "All right, people, let's get out of the way of the tech folks."

Of course they ended up helping to muscle the damn thing onto the cart. Though that inconvenience was made up for with the spectacle of Shen running out to hug the damn thing.

Jane shook her head and led the squad back to quarters, head churning with things seen, heard and done in the day.


	8. Chapter 8

_(Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews, you're the best!)_

 _ **February 1, 2035**_

 _ **06:01 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, French Countryside**_

Groggily, Van slowly levered herself up in bed from where she was laying on her stomach and blearily gazed around her. For a moment she had a hard time remembering where she was. She rolled over so she could sit up on the side of the bed. The flutter of the tattered red XCOM flag caught her attention and reminded her of her situation.

After scrubbing the crud out of her eyes, she cautiously slid out of bed to her feet. When she didn't feel like she was going to pass out, she figured that she was making progress. A gently blinking blue light on the terminal at her desk caught her attention. Figuring that it wasn't an emergency, Van decided that she would get ready for the day first. If this XCOM was anything like the one she knew, there would've been a very loud siren to wake her up in the middle of the night.

It was glorious to take a hot shower without worrying about passing out. Even if it was a short one. She wasn't sure what kind of water supplies they had and she didn't want to be selfish.

Clean, dressed in yet another jumpsuit. She suspected Bradford was behind the fact the ones she had were all black with a few grey accents so that she couldn't try to blend with the staff the way she usually did. He'd never outright disapproved of her refusal to wear the special uniforms they'd made up for her in her position as Commander, but some of his comments made her wonder.

Van scowled when she saw the date after turning on the terminal. She'd slept for two days? It was hard to believe that they'd let her sleep that long. She did vaguely recall someone getting her to eat every so often and a few times staggering to the bathroom to relieve herself. Everything had been hazed over with the feeling of utter exhaustion. All right, so maybe she had pushed herself too hard, but she needed to outrun her personal horrors.

Having slept on it for a few days had made the situation become something that she could somewhat wrap her mind around. Sort of. Kind of. Maybe.

The blinking light proved to mean she had messages to deal with. There was one from Tygan dated from the evening before that was flagged as a priority. Bracing herself for the worst, she opened it.

 _Commander,_

 _Firstly, let me say that as your physician I ordered Bradford and everyone else on the staff to make sure you were left alone to sleep yourself out. Given your near collapse on Monday, you were desperately in need of the rest. Which leads me to my second point._

 _Once you are awake, and_ _ **not**_ _in the state you were in a couple of days ago, I would like to see you. Both to make sure you haven't done any harm to yourself and to give you my preliminary results on the chip._

 _R. Tygan_

She couldn't help the slightly grim smile as she read between the lines. Yeah, she pissed off the doctor. Which meant she probably scared the shit out of Bradford and that in turn would probably have pissed him off if she pegged the way he reacted to things like that now. She sighed. "Good job, Van. You're already pissing people off and you've only been awake how long? And now I'm talking to myself. Isn't that just peachy keen?"

Deciding it was too early to see if the doctor was up and moving, and not ready to face Bradford, Van went in search of breakfast. Or at least coffee. Fortunately, she found both. Breakfast proved to be a hearty oatmeal flavored with dried fruits, nuts and some cinnamon. Between that and the coffee, she was ready to face the day. Or at least Tygan.

Bradford was an entirely different story.

Finished eating, she used her tablet to send a message to Tygan to see if he was available. The only response she got was " _Yes"_.

On her way out of the mess she got a refill of coffee. Bless the soul who found the good sized travel mug, Van had a feeling she was going to need the sugar and caffeine boost to deal with the lecture coming up. Possibly lectures. Bradford never yelled at her, he just gave her these patient comments. Yelling was vastly preferred, it stung less. Not that he gave her too many of those comments after the first week. Probably just resigned to doing what damage control he could with the idiot civilian.

Or at least, that's what she remembered. Which was twenty years ago now. Fuck. That was still so hard to wrap her mind around.

Not wanting to think about how much weirder life had become, Van focused on taking in the details of the Avenger. It was a fine ship with plenty of room to expand. That's when she caught her shadow out of the corner her eye. This was a new face. She looked to be vaguely Hispanic descent with a round friendly face and warm brown eyes. Like Jane, she wore a ballcap, but hers was worn backward. The soldier gave her a nod with a cheerful. "Morning Commander!"

Oh god, they saddled her with a morning person today. She smiled a little as she quietly replied, "Morning."

At least this one didn't have a face that haunted her memories. Like Kelly this soldier didn't seem inclined to talk much.

This time it didn't take very long for her to get to Tygan's office which was a relief. She hadn't liked how weak she'd been a few days ago. Of course she'd find him looking over the fucking chip. This time it was held in some sort of case with a beam of energy running through it.

"Hello, Commander," he said pleasantly enough at her approach.

"Morning, Doctor. And I don't remember if I told you the other day or not, but please, call me Vanessa."

He turned to look at her with his eyebrows arched up. She gave him a sunny smile. "Between being my senior staff and the poor soul who gets to look after my health it's only right. Besides, I'm not really the formal type."

A brief smile flickered across his face. "I'll keep that in mind. Vanessa. Before we discuss my findings on the chip, let's see how you're doing." He frowned at the mug in her hand. "I hope you've had something other than coffee."

"Yes, I had actual food besides coffee."

"Good. You're too thin. If you'll step back here?"

Too thin? That was a new one, she'd always had to struggle with a tendency towards plumpness. Then again, she had lost a lot of weight during those months with the original version of XCOM. As she followed his directions, she soon found herself stripped down to her underthings and perched on a high stool as the doctor did a full exam. By the time he was done with his scans, the initial bloodwork he'd taken was done.

Tygan was quiet as he looked over everything, then shook his head. "You're an extraordinarily lucky woman, Vanessa. With your near collapse a couple days ago I fully expected to have to put you into the infirmary for monitoring, but I don't. In fact, it's as if you never pushed yourself in the first place." He gave her a stern look that actually made her squirm uncomfortably. "I trust you won't do that again."

"I certainly don't intend to, but I do have a job that needs doing. If the current situation is anything like the invasion I may have to keep going until I do collapse."

He looked at the readouts on his screen for a moment. "I don't think you quite understand the delicate situation you're in, Commander."

That he switched from her name to her title made her wary. "In what way?"

"The morale of the crew in general and Central Officer Bradford specifically. Central is the one I'm worried about the most. I am not a psychiatrist, but it seemed that you were almost an obsession for him. Finding you alive and as you are seemed to bring him back from a very dark place. If something happened to you. Something _easily_ preventable. I worry what it might do to him."

It felt like her guts were trying to twist themselves into knots. Of course she'd gotten hints, from the personnel files she skimmed through, from comments she heard, hell John himself. It just hadn't occurred to her that she was that important to him the way he'd become important to her. "I understand, at least with Central. The crew though, I'm rather new to them aren't I?"

Tygan sighed, sat down and gave her a very steady look. "Vanessa, I think you lack the appreciation of just how much people talked about you. Not just Bradford, though he'd been the main driving force behind recovering you. There was also Dr. Shen and your surviving veterans. Then that little mission to retrieve Lily's converter while you ready to pass out on your feet with no casualties? That just sealed the deal on your legend."

Legend? Was the man out of his mind?

A beep from the final scan distracted the doctor before she insert her foot into her mouth with the thoughts churning way.

The doctor shook his head again. "Amazing. Just amazing. Well, I'm done with the exam, so you can get dressed."

As she started to pull the suit back on, a couple of thoughts struck her. "There's a couple of things I'd like to discuss with you since you seem to be my physician for the moment."

"Unfortunately for the entire crew I am the only physician here. What did you want to talk about?"

"I intend to start doing some armor and weapon training with the troops, but I had to get your clearance first."

"Of course you do," he said resignedly. "Take at least another couple of days to make sure you fully recover, let me check on you to make my final determination." He eyed her warily. "And the other thing?"

She decided she'd be blunt since that usually worked well doctors. "Female issues. I'm hoping for something to suppress my cycles since I'm guessing my previous implant got removed at some point. I'd rather not worry about getting incapacitated for three to seven days a month due to Cramps of Doom."

He blinked at her for a moment. "Now that is a reasonable request. As it happens we do have something of that nature for our female staff. Provided you don't mind medication as a result of the use of the alien tech."

"At this point, I don't see what the problem is. As long as it doesn't involve another chip in my head."

That actually got a smile. "Nothing quite so dramatic. Just a simple injection. I'll need you to bare an arm."

That was easy enough to do and the injection wasn't as bad as she feared. While the doctor put away his instruments, she finished putting herself to rights and drinking her coffee. When he turned back to her, she commented, "And now for the less fun part of this conversation?"

"Indeed. Just keep in mind these are preliminary results."

"Of course. I'm surprised you had anything this soon."

When he didn't answer, Van began to feel more concern than she already had.

She walked along with him to the little corner that was devoted to that damn chip along with various images of her brain that had before and after images of said thing being removed. Tygan stared at the chip for a moment before going over to the display. "I've managed to break down several key components of the chip. My analysis reveals that its primary function was that of a conduit, passing a vast amount of data directly to your cerebral cortex."

Van wondered if he told Bradford about this yet, depending on what they were putting through her brain, she was a security risk after all, but she decided to wait to hear out the doctor. He tapped at the screen showing a flow of data in one window, with another coming up showing fragments. "With the primary connection severed, much of that data was lost. Several fragments do remain, however. "Ghosts" if you will."

"So what were they running through my head?"

"Tactical combat simulations. Wargames. The sheer volume of encounters you were processing was astounding. It… It is truly remarkable that you survived as long as you did."

What the fuck? War games? For twenty years? What else were they funneling into her brain? Or out of it? Van was speechless with her dismay. It was bad enough that she'd done that as long as she had as her job. Or was that job training?

Tygan spoke slowly and almost hesitantly. "I hate to be the bearer of further bad news, and all the details are in the report I'm sending you, but to sum my findings up. The device is psionically-driven by the latent energy in your brain. It… It appears that it functions as a transmitter and a receiver, relaying information via some sort of psionic link."

The blood drained from Van's head, leaving her feeling somewhat faint and nauseous. She braced herself against a nearby countertop and tried not to hyperventilate. Closing her eyes Vanessa tried to desperately keep control over herself.

"Vanessa?" Tygan asked worriedly.

Without opening her eyes, she replied. "Just… give me a moment, Tygan. I need a moment to process this."

She could hear him moving away to give her space and finally allowed her body to give into the shakes. And maybe a few tears. Oh god, this was so much worse than she expected. They had her in some sort of psionic link? The question kickstarted her analytical mind. Sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Van slowly straightened up and wiped at her face.

She turned to where the doctor was waiting patiently and seemingly perusing some files. "Thank you for your patience."

He studied her over his glasses. "If you need more time, I know this must be quite an unpleasant surprise for you."

"I'll need some more time, but I'll be all right for now. There's one problem with your analysis though."

He asked in a cool, even tone. "In what way?"

"I don't have any psionic potential, latent or otherwise."

"I'm not sure how you know that, but I am afraid you do have a very strong psionic potential."

How? She had her issues with Vahlen, but the woman did know what she was doing. "We were just looking into activing psionic potential in humans just before HQ was overrun. I was one of the first tested and the tests came up with me as null. Is this something they could have done to me?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Vanessa. A person has to be born with the potential or they don't have it. Even though the aliens are capable of truly wondrous things by our standards, even they can't just give someone psionic potential."

So Vahlen had either lied to her or the test had been wrong. Van wasn't sure which was worse. That Vahlen had lied about something so important or had been completely off about something so important. If a lie, why? What benefit could have it given the scientist? If she had been so horribly wrong on the testing, what else had she made such grotesque mistakes on? Was that how the aliens actually got the base? Not betrayal but XCOM being vulnerable from relying on bad information?

Another deep breath to control the buzzing questions. "All right, so I have psionic potential they used to tap me as a war game simulator. I'm not even sure where to go with that for now. My concern, well one of them at any rate, is that do they still have a tap on my head?"

"In that regard I can reassure you. Without the implant they won't have access to your mind and I have the device heavily shielded so it won't compromise us."

That was a minor relief at least. "All right. So what do you suggest from here?"

"This chip is very similar in design to one I worked on briefly in the Gene Therapy Clinic of New Providence. It was for ADVENT officers, captain or above. If we can obtain one for comparison I might be able to give you more information."

She knew he was leaving something out. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Right now, all I have are suppositions, but without more data I have no way of giving you something concrete to act on."

"All right. I'm going to assume that we can't use the officer corpse brought in a few days ago? I believe it's in pretty bad shape, so the implant in it isn't very useful." That was an understatement, a large chunk of the head was missing.

"That would be correct."

"I'm hoping you aren't going to require a live capture." She rubbed the back of her head and stopped. Not because it hurt, but because she realized the incision was already healed and she didn't want to think about that. Yet another thing to add to the list of things unable to be contemplated at this time. "Even if we can still make the arc thrower, I have no desire to put my people into that kind of hazardous situation again."

Since the Council wasn't around anymore to make her do unconscionable things, she was going to put her foot down about that kind of risk.

"A live capture isn't necessary. I just need an intact head."

That was going to have be worded carefully, otherwise he was likely to end up with just a decapitated head from an officer. She suspected he needed the entire corpse. "I'll see what we can do."

Just as she started to note details in her tablet, the Avenger's AI pinged her comms. _"Commander to Mission Control."_

"Well, I guess that's my cue. Was there anything else before I go?"

"That's about it. Just remember to take things easy."

"As much as I can, Doctor." Then she was on her way with a head that felt like it was sloshing about with everything that she'd learned. Almost as bad as her stomach. She was really regretting eating breakfast after talking with Tygan.

It did emphasis the need to talk with Bradford. God, psionic potential. A fucking psionic link. She hoped that Tygan was right about the aliens not being able to reestablish the link without the chip.


	9. Chapter 9

_**February 1, 2035**_

 _ **08:05 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, French Countryside**_

When Van arrived at Mission Control she saw that Bradford was talking with two of the techs. Gesturing with his left hand, he said, "Just stay clear of the perimeter. Understood?"

She had to hide her smile behind one hand. She knew that exasperated tone all too well from the past when he was dealing with a particularly thick headed person. Her slight cough drew his attention. "Commander, good I think we've got something here."

Bradford started limping along the room to the now properly working holographic globe. "Despite all of ADVENT's efforts, there are still people who refuse to listen to their lies."

That was good to know. It meant that XCOM wasn't some forlorn hope fighting the good fight all on their own. Little indicators flared up on spots on the map. Probably locations of those who still resisted the aliens and their quisling government. Central continued to talk/ "And it's time we let them know they're not alone. We've already located a target for our first operation."

One of the techs Central had been issuing orders to spoke up. "Sir, given our current location there's actually no way the skyranger could reach that position."

There was a hint of laughter in Central's voice as he replied. "Who said anything about the skyranger?"

He tapped his earpiece, including Van in the communication. "Shen. Status report, are we ready?"

" _Short answer? Yes. Buuut you might all want to hold onto something."_

Taking her lead from Bradford, Van grabbed the handrail that was in the middle of the room around the globe as the floor began to shake. In the distance she could hear the high pitched whine of powerful engines beginning to fire. The room slowly spun even as the floor rose under her feet.

It was an oddly _exhilarating_ feeling that caused a bubble of delighted laughter. XCOM had a mobile HQ now. Wasn't that a fantastic thing? It reminded her of some of her favorite comics when she was younger before fiction became a horrible reality. Even Bradford seemed to be smiling as around them the staff eagerly reported on the status of the ship.

The Avenger made another slow turn, she found herself leaning with it and ended up leaning into Bradford a little. He slid his right hand over to brace her left and gave her a smile that warmed his brown eyes. "This is something else, isn't it, Commander?"

Delight still filled her and reflected in the grin she gave him. "It's amazing!"

The lines on his face softened a little, even as his eyes hardened a bit with determination. "Now we can show the aliens a real war."

Not wanting to ruin the mood just yet, she just nodded. Even without the Avenger they still would've shown them a real war. It just would've been harder to conduct. For a few moments they stood together companionably. It felt good to have him next to her and leaning against her as well.

Yet that need to hash things out with Central finally drove her to end the moment with her request. "I know you need to brief me about the upcoming operation, but do you think we have time to talk privately?"

"It'll have to be on the actual bridge since I need to monitor the autopilot for a time to make sure it's running smoothly. We can close the door to talk without anyone overhearing us."

"Sounds good, thank you."

He nodded easily then snagged a passing tech. "Commander and I going to have a conference on the bridge if we're needed."

The woman paused, distracted from whatever she'd been doing, blinked at him. "All right, Central."

Bradford made his slow way to the bridge, with Van right behind him. She hadn't expected him to agree so easily so she remained silent during the short walk. And continued to do so while he checked the displays.

Eventually he made a sound of satisfaction and sat down in one of the chairs that had been installed in front of the control panel. "So what did you want to talk about, Commander?"

Well, that gave her an easy start. "Why so formal all of sudden, John? I understand why you address me as Commander in front of the crew, but you've never had a problem calling me by name in private or with senior staff until now. You certainly remembered it when we were on the skyranger."

Once the words were out of her mouth she felt like an idiot. Running her hands over her hair that was starting to grow into curls, she sighed, "I'm sorry, Central. I didn't think. _Again._ "

He held up a hand. "Don't be. Vanessa. Wasn't sure if you recognized me enough as your friend not just your tactical officer."

Van smiled a little. "I didn't recognize you at first on the skyranger, but after working with you again a couple of days ago, I do."

"But that's not what you really wanted to talk about, is it?"

Her smile faded. "No. Well, partly. There's a lot to discuss, but there's one thing that might seem petty, but I need to address."

"You hadn't been a petty woman before this, I doubt you are now. What's on your mind?"

"What have you been telling people about me? Almost every person I talk to act as if I'm every Foretold Hero destined to return at the time of their people's need all wrapped up into one. Hell, even you seem to treat me that way. I'm no hero, I'm just a woman." She laughed a little bitterly. "One that couldn't even protect herself from her enemies."

John was quiet for a long time, staring off into space before he looked at her again. "Did I ever tell you that you were my first choice of Commander when XCOM was activated?"

Confused by his question, she shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Just let me say my piece. Even the Council Spokesman agreed. Besides your education, you're a smart person. Observant. Not just mentally flexible, but adaptable. Willing to accept the impossible. Able to work with all types. Even your disadvantaged childhood helped in that you knew how to withstand adversity. Though it was your work at ForeSight Labs with those oddball scenarios that sealed the deal if the unthinkable happened." He studied her. "And that's why I've been telling everyone that once you were back things would change."

Bile burned up her throat. "We lost with me in charge. And you wanted me back."

"No!" He growled. "We were betrayed and that's why we lost the war and you. Hell, look at that mission just a few days ago to get Shen's converter thing. You were practically passing out on your feet and you directed the squad in dealing with hostiles you knew nothing about."

Oh god. He really was taking that as a positive sign. Vanessa scrubbed harshly at her face. "I guess Tygan didn't tell you then."

He frowned a little. "Tell me what?"

"About what his preliminary results with the chip. Or what they did to me physically."

Now she understood why he'd been so skittish around her when she first woke up as her nerves failed her. Unable to face him, like so many other things when she woke up in that suit, Vanessa paced in little circles as she explained about the gene therapy. The war game simulations. The psionic link. Her own potential psionic ability. Tygan's suspicions that the chip in her head was somehow related to the chips in the ADVENT officers. She finished with, "Now don't you see why I can't be trusted? Who knows what else they put into my head that hasn't triggered yet? Or if they might still somehow find a way to get back into my head."

John spoke slowly. "You may have a point, but we have been keeping you under observation as you requested. There hasn't been any indication of you doing anything questionable."

Her shoulders slumped. "You must think me some kind of fool."

"Not a fool, but you've always been somewhat…security conscious."

Once again she wondered how she could get though what it was like to live in a "disadvantaged" family in the slums of Newark to a man who might as well have been raised by Ma and Pa Kent then joined the military to become Captain America, only without the super powers. Of course she was paranoid, she had good reason. When you were the child of a junkie, who got himself killed in a drug deal gone bad, and an alcoholic, that drank herself to death, with a big brother who got himself killed in a robbery gone wrong, you learned a healthy dose of paranoia.

Even more so now. "John, my brain has always been my greatest asset. Now knowing how badly it's been messed with…" The pacing sped up and became more erratic. "Just implanting that chip should've done something, even with the aliens' seemingly miraculous tech. Though I guess they were somehow able to avoid the damage, what Tygan did to remove it, along with everything else, should've shredded my grey matter." She drew in a ragged breath. God, she was tired of feeling so whiny, but couldn't help it. "And I've been dumping on you. Again. You have enough problems of your own."

In her agitation, Van hadn't realized he moved until she almost walked into him. She kept her eyes focused on his shirt, afraid of what she'd see if she dared to meet his gaze. A whisper of a touch on her cheek caused her to look up into his somber expression. "We are friends. And with you here my problems aren't as bad as they had been."

"Doesn't mean you want to hear me blubbering away."

He snorted. "You're hardly blubbering. And if our positions were reversed?"

Well, he did have her there. "I'd hear you out. If you're sure I'm not being a burden."

Much to her surprise John held his hands, palms up, out to her. Unsure if he meant what she thought he did, she hesitantly slid her hands on his. He wrapped her hands up and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Positive. You have the burden of finding the way to free us from the aliens' domination."

A shaky laugh came out of her. "Well, when you put it that way. Though I guess you probably didn't miss some of our more awkward chats. Like this."

John's voice deepened and gained a rough edge. "I did actually. Missed you, Van. For you. Not just because you're the Commander of XCOM."

Maybe she wasn't the only one with certain regrets. She took a chance to shift her hands so she could twine her fingers with his. They stood together for a time, hands linked and not saying anything. For a moment she allowed herself the luxury of feeling safe.

Then John stirred. "C'mon, let's sit down and talk this through. We still have plenty of time."

He only let go of one hand as he led her over to the seats and finally let go of the other when Van sank into the seat next to the one John had been using. She was grateful for the suggestion. Now that her emotional storm was starting to pass, she felt wrung out and a little hollow.

John considered her for a moment before sitting back down. He cleared his throat. "Getting back to your original concern, your fears are hardly petty." He rubbed his hand over his mouth. "And you were aware the entire time from the moment we retrieved you until Tygan pulled that chip?"

"Yes. Though I don't know if I would call myself aware when he was doing the removal. I… Well. I was flashing back and forth between what Tygan was doing and the aliens implanting the things into me."

"No wonder we almost lost you during that time," Bradford whispered. He'd gone pale.

"I won't lie, John. I did try to give up, but some part of me didn't want to let go."

"Glad you didn't, Vanessa. Real glad."

She gave him a wan smile. "And that leads me to the next thing I should have said and haven't yet. Thank you. Thank you for saving me when I didn't know I needed to be saved. For being there for me in a way your duty never called for."

The smile he gave in return seemed to brighten the room. "Quite welcome. As long as I live, I'll always be there for you."

"So I guess that makes you my knight in Kevlar armor?"

"Shouldn't that be shining armor?"

"Nope. Because for one shiny armor means it's never been used. Also it tends to make someone a really big target. Besides Kevlar is far more practical in this day and age."

The belly laugh that erupted from him was one of the sweetest sounds she'd ever heard. When he caught his breath, he gave her a lopsided smile. That look made her regret a lot of things she'd never said to him, and were probably too late now to say, but she could at least smile back. Even if it was a bit wobbly.

It felt really good to hear him laugh like that.

John studied her again. "Feeling better?"

"A little, thank you. I will admit, there's something that always bothered me from the very beginning." Van figured that if she was going to get everything out of her system, might as well get this out too. "I know you said I was your first pick for the position, but didn't it bother you to have to keep dealing with the issues I caused as a civilian working in the military?"

"Van, I don't know where the hell you got that idea." He frowned a little as he thought things over. "I seem to recall telling you that it was my job to handle all the little details so you could focus on the big picture. There weren't any issues I had to smooth over. Except for Vahlen."

"No regrets with regards to _her_." That got her another smile. "So I didn't offend the troops?"

"The troops and not the brass?" He seemed amused by that.

She shrugged. "Only if they went into combat. The little tin soldiers that thought they could tell me what to do when they clearly had no clue about what we were dealing with? I didn't care about them, I had enough shit from the Council to deal with."

"That's another reason why you were ideal. Trying to mesh so many disparate units was a challenge. Having a civilian in charge made it easier since they realized you didn't care about how things were done from where they came from. You just cared about getting the job done and having the people to do it. All of the troops respected how you treated them. A good number adored you because you always made sure they got home alive."

"Even if they were pretty badly mangled?" That had been something that had always bothered her. While she knew intellectually she couldn't fully control the battlefield, emotionally it was hard to accept.

He shook his head. "They came back alive, that meant a lot to them."

She looked blankly at the displays to the side of her. She felt full to overflowing with a mix of emotions. "We were pushing them back, weren't we? It wasn't just my wishful thinking."

"No, it wasn't your imagination. That's the galling part. If we hadn't been betrayed…"

Resolve gelled with in Van. A thing she hadn't felt in the last few days. It also felt like some festering abscess in her emotions had been lanced and was finally draining so it could heal cleanly. "It's not often we get a second chance to make things right."

"Never thought I'd see one." This time when he looked at her with hope, it didn't hurt so badly.

Hoping she wasn't break that feeling, she asked, "And the psionic thing doesn't bother you?"

"Why? Always did wonder if you had a touch of something the way you could predict the aliens' movement."

Her reply came in a soft voice. "I distinctly remember Vahlen telling me I had absolutely no psionic potential. Tygan tells me that even the aliens can't manufacture that in someone, it has to be there naturally. So while I haven't known him very long, I trust him more than I do Vahlen."

His eyes widened. "God, Vanessa. No wonder you're upset. Don't recall Vahlen saying anything to me about it, but I find it hard to believe she'd miss something like that."

Van nodded, not sure what to say.

"The question is, are you latent, or active in some way?"

"I really doubt that I'm active. I'm having a hard time believing I have latent potential. Why do you ask that?"

"Just wondering."

She peered at him suspiciously.

He shrugged. "Something to keep in mind for the future."

"All right. And at some point we're going to have to go over our favorite subject."

He mock grimaced. "Let me guess. Logistics for Tygan and Shen."

"Yeah, but they seemed pretty reasonable."

He grunted. "You say that now."

Van smiled a little. "Guess we better go round up people to plan the op."

"Be there shortly, just need to watch the autopilot for a little longer."

She nodded, got to her feet and walked to the door. With one hand on the handle, she paused. "John. You said you were a broken, old man, but you're wrong about that."

He frowned at her.

"If you were broken, you never would've held XCOM together, never tried to find and rescue me. As for being old, well, you certainly don't act like it. You've been battered and bruised. But you're not old. Just somewhat seasoned."

She slipped out the door as he stared at her speechlessly.


	10. Chapter 10

_**February 1, 2035**_

 _ **10:00 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, Czech Countryside**_

At first Van was worried there'd be some sort of awkwardness after the way she dumped on Bradford, but as they walked out of Mission Control on the way to meeting with the fireteam, there was only an easy companionship between them. It felt like it always had whenever there was a mission brief to give rather than the whole _Sorry guys, I'm sending you into an unknown crapshoot with the ETs._

Having that degree of normalcy felt really damn good.

They met with the small team in the armory for Central to conduct the briefing while they were going over their new equipment. Hause and Worley were going over a pair of gremlins while Harkes was pouring over every inch of her LMG. Kelly was the exception, apparently she'd already gone over her shotgun and sword.

Central began the brief. "We got word from the Resistance that there was a supply train going through the ADVENT city center of Prague. It's too tough a nut for them to crack, but they figured we'd have a better chance at getting something useful. And likely accomplish our secondary goal of getting an ADVENT officer corpse for Doctor Tygan."

Van scanned through what intel there was on her tablet as she listened to Central. There wasn't anything useful outside of some pictures of the area. So that's what a city center looked like, she mused to herself. It looked all sleek, shiny and appropriately futuristically high tech. Unfortunately, it also seemed fairly soulless. That's when she realized that the aliens were destroying them culturally, not just taking over for whatever reason.

Returning her attention to the briefing, she commented a little wryly. "While I appreciate the tip, did they provide any other information other than 'tough nut'?"

Jane grimaced in agreement from across the table they were gathered at, but didn't seem surprised.

Central shook his head. "Just the time of when the train is going to arrive and the location of the depot it was going to be stopping at."

"So why the city center and not something out in the country?"

"They, ah, don't know which direction it's coming from and ADVENT doesn't exactly post their train schedules. The resistance did offer to provide a distraction."

She pinched the bridge of her nose at the thought of the last one. "I hope it's not as enthusiastic as the one for that converter."

"Usually they start riots or something along those lines." She eyeballed Central as he said that. Rioting sounded like a messy plan that had uncertain results.

Kelly inspected her fingernails too casually as she commented. "Or they could blow up a troop transport."

Was Bradford actually turning red? What the hell had these people been up to? Then she saw the way Harkes was grinning at the idea of blowing something up. She nipped that idea in the bud real quick. "No. There's no reason to go to Defcon 4 for this. So there won't be anything blown up by us. Too great a chance at blowing up something important."

Admittedly, Van was the most concerned about Harkes. The woman had come to the attention of XCOM after bombing an ADVENT depot. Kelly caught her attention and grinned. "Don't worry boss, I'll make sure Harkes behaves herself."

The woman in question sniffed. "At least I'm housebroken unlike those two idiots."

Worley said, "Arf. Arf," as Hause laughingly commented. "Hey, I resemble that remark!"

Bradford just slowly shook his head them. Van figured it was time to settle back down to business. "So what time is this train supposed to arrive?"

"Eight-Ten P.M. European Central Time."

She looked at him. "We're not doing this in a city center. Let's say we have at least six hours for planning and figure out where we can hit this thing along the way. There must be some sort of maps we can use."

Central coughed. "Unfortunately, we don't have any details about what direction it's coming from. All we were given was location and time of arrival. We don't exactly have the sources of information we used to."

She could feel her cheeks starting to heat up in embarrassment. Of course they didn't. Van rubbed the back of her neck. "So is it possible that we can get more than just a few pictures? So we can lay out a plan of attack ahead of time. Rather than trying to make it up as we go along."

Worley gave her a huge grin, his teeth very white against his dark, scruffy beard. "Now that, Commander, I can do."

The beefy hacker pulled out his tablet. While it was warming up, he laced his thick fingers together, extended his hands and cracked his knuckles, then wiggled his fingers. Hause and Kelly exchanged looks while Harkes rolled her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Van saw Central just shake his head.

She couldn't resist smiling at the man's antics.

While the hacker did his thing, the rest studied what they did have to start to formulate a plan. At least it appeared to be located in an industrial section of the city, so hopefully there wouldn't be too many innocent bystanders in the area at that time of night.

Finally Worley punched a fist into the air yelling, "Yes! Gotcha!" He beamed at Van. "Take a look at this, Commander."

His gremlin moved to the table and projected a 3D hologram of the area. She couldn't help but grin back, impressed with his work as well as wonder at what the little drone was capable of. This was the aspect of sci-fi she'd always loved and being able to see something like this was a dream come true.

It didn't quite make up for the nightmare that the rest of her life had become, but it helped.

As she studied the layout and made estimations about where patrols were likely to be, Worley turned serious. "Sorry, Commander, I got ahead of myself. I thought I'd gotten more than that."

"You did just fine. There's no need to apologize, just having a map like this helps a lot."

She paced around the projection rubbing her chin and thinking. "All right, Harkes. You'll get a chance at blowing something up after all."

The blue haired woman flashed a quick, toothy grin. "What did you have in mind, bosslady?"

Van pointed at a cylindrical object near the planned insertion site of the team and opposite of where the train would be entering the depot. "Can you rig that to blow remotely once the squad is near the train? Give the ADVENT forces something else to think about? If I'm judging this correctly, it shouldn't do too much damage."

Harkes leaned forward to consider the image, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can rig something up to be loud and flashy, but not blow the entire place up."

"Good. This is the plan. You insert here, Harkes sets up her demolitions. From there, I want you to position yourselves here. We'll just have to play the rest by ear as we get a better idea of their forces." As she spoke, she gestured to the locations she had in mind. "Though here's some possible fall back positions you may want to use."

The four soldiers seemed stunned. She mentally frowned to herself, she thought she was keeping it fairly simple since they didn't have all of the details. "Any questions? Details you want to add?"

Kelly looked over at the other three soldiers who shook their heads. "We're good to go, Commander."

"All right. Then be prepared to liftoff in Firebrand at 1900."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Once they were out of earshot of the squad, Van asked, "Was it something I said there?"

Bradford titled his head slightly in a quizzical manner. "In what way?"

"They seemed surprised by something, but didn't want to speak up about it."

"We haven't exactly been planning missions in quite such detail for some time."

She stopped and squinted at him. "But you clearly planned your mission to retrieve me."

"That was the exception because of the amount of information we'd been provided about your whereabouts. Most of the time we end up with opportunities with little chance to plan. Much like the situation with the converter."

"I see. Not that we often had a chance to a lot of planning before, but –," She stopped. The last thing she wanted to do was put her foot in her mouth again. Feeling stupid was getting really old.

"But we had the lay of the land."

"Yeah." She jammed her hands into the pockets of the jumpsuit so he wouldn't see the fists she was forming out of frustration.

"Van." The way he said her name got her to look up at him. "You've only been back a few days. Give yourself some more time to come to grips with everything."

A thought struck her. "You said the Resistance doesn't normally give much advance warning."

"Worried about the situation with the train tonight."

"Yes."

"Not bad to be concerned, but every so often they do give us some kind of heads up about one of their operations before they just jump in."

"Thanks, Central."

He smiled. "Anytime, Commander."

She ran a hand through her hair. "And I'm probably keeping you from your job." She frowned as something occurred to her. "Just how much paperwork am I facing?"

"Not as much as you're probably thinking of, but there are reports you might want to go over."

"Uh huh. The last time you said that to me you almost had to send in a rescue party because I felt like I was drowning. And it was all electronic."

There was a flash of a grin. "Well, if I don't hear from you by lunch time I'll send another."

Bidding him farewell with a grin, she went off to face the dreaded paperwork. Which proved to be not as bad as she feared. Someone, likely Central, had cut out all the bloat, so that it didn't take long to catch up. In fact someone had even written up a preliminary report for the converter op. It just required a few tweaks to bring it up to standard.

Among the reports was a request from Tygan about researching the gene therapy performed on her. Partly because of his own prior research in the Gene Therapy Clinic, partly to make sure he hadn't missed anything, but mainly to see if there was some way of applying a similar therapy to their own people. Her recuperative abilities would be valuable to soldiers.

She steepled her fingers before her and thought long and hard about it.

Her gut instinct was to say no since it still wasn't clear what the aliens had done to her. Yet Tygan was positive she was still human and she hadn't experienced any suspicious changes.

In the end she sent her approval for the sake of her troops. She remembered too well those that had to be given a medical discharge because they'd suffered injuries they'd never fully recover from. While the ruthlessly practical part of her wanted to be able to keep putting experienced troops into the field, that wasn't the loudest part that influenced her decision. It was the simple fact she hated seeing her people in that kind of pain.

A quiet whisper at the back of mind said that it might help John's bad leg.

Shaking off that whisper, she had one more thought. A caveat was needed so that if the research came up with any kind of results that it was up to the individual soldiers to accept any treatment. Including creating a prior consent form for any necessary and unconventional lifesaving treatment for injuries sustained from combat.

While she wanted what was best for her troops, she wasn't going to take away their choice of what to do with their bodies when it came to something like this.

The approval was sent with her conditions.

The next request had her frowning even more. Lily wanted to install a generator over one of the exposed power coils in the belly of the Avenger. Considering what the younger Shen had done with her father, not to mention how possessive she was of the ship, it seemed odd that Lily would ask permission to do anything in the ship. Especially something as important as a power generator.

A note attached to the request cleared up her confusion. They'd only recently finished cleaning out the various bays of the ship. So she wondered again about the need for her approval, but really it didn't take very long for her to come up with the reason.

Vanessa McKenzie was back as Commander and major projects needed the Commander's approval.

For the first time since she'd woken up with a skittish Bradford by her bedside she allowed herself to really think about why she was so bothered by everyone's faith in her.

Hoping for some sort of inspiration, she dug through what little was left from the original XCOM. There wasn't much to look through, but what was there was enlightening. It was as Bradford said and her memories told her. They had been seeing progress.

So maybe they were justified with the way they were looking at her.

The other thing Van reminded herself about was the fact she wasn't alone in this. As always she had Bradford to keep her grounded and moving forward. Both Lily and Tygan seemed to be both experts in their fields. The soldiers they had, while few and unconventially trained, were solid.

Right, so it was time to stop brooding about the whole thing and focus on getting things done.

Her comms beeped. "Hey Commander," Bradford said too casually. "It's lunchtime if you want to join Tygan, Shen and me."

"I'll be there in a few."

Lunch sounded like an excellent time to start making a game plan with her senior staff.


	11. Chapter 11

_**February 1, 2035**_

 _ **20:05 Central European Time**_

 _ **Avenger, Czech Countryside**_

" _Menace 1-5 is in position, Commander,"_ Shieldmaiden subvocalized into Van's earpiece. _"Defcon has her little surprise ready and waiting at your order."_

"Good. You have five minutes until your objective arrives."

" _Copy that. Just spotted the secondary target, ma'am."_

On one of the displays Van could see the officer stomping around issuing orders to some of the guards. "Just keep an eye on it for now. We still need to focus on the main goal. If we have to we can grab one some other time."

" _Roger that, boss."_

Central stepped up next to her as she took in the different angles of the area of operation. He quietly mused out loud. "They keep these trains running around the clock. But you never see them loading or unloading any cargo – at least not where anyone can see it."

Giving him a sideways glance she asked, "Is that really why you wanted us to do this raid? To see what might be there?"

"It wasn't just to satisfy my curiosity. Members of the resistance really do believe there's valuable cargo on there that can be used. Like I said before, this will send a message to the resistance that we're here to make a difference.

"Hmm and just possibly send a message to ADVENT as well," she replied.

There was a slight, sly grin at that.

A high pitched whistle sounded over the comms. "Sounds like our cue to see if this insane plan actually works or not."

As the train arrived at the entrance of the depot, the ADVENT officer chose that moment to pass by the area the team waited for their target. Three of them stepped forward to grab the officer and his two minions by wrapping arms around throats and free hands clamping over mouths. There were three soft cracks and the bodies were dragged away.

There were no alarms. The few guards still in the area seemed disinclined to move from their posts, continuing to survey the area calmly.

Van nodded to herself and said, "Very good."

The train pulled up with a hiss. It sat there without opening its doors. She frowned at it. "Defcon, don't set off your surprise just yet. I think it might attract too much attention in the wrong place."

" _No problem, boss."_

Something was very not right. "Menace 1-5, I want all four of you to scatter to your secondary positions."

It meant the ambush might not go off as expected, but it meant that a grenade or some other area of affect weapon wouldn't be able to get her entire team at once. She didn't quite scowl when she saw that Shieldmaiden had positioned herself behind some metal trunks that were sitting on the platform next to the tracks. That wasn't quite what she had in mind, but it would have to do.

Finally the doors opened and a trio of sectoids paused at the doorway, looking around and hissing. It looked like they were trying to sniff the air.

She could feel Central still at her side, staring at the displays, but not saying anything despite the tension that was pouring off of him. Van rolled her neck. "All right, Menace 1-5, this is what you're going to do…"

She left Shieldmaiden in her position, she'd be perfect for mop up. A strangled protest came out of Central as she had Defcon carefully drop a grenade on the three aliens to soften them. God, she loved the accuracy of modern day grenade launchers.

There was an explosion of sound as Shieldmaiden's shotgun barked and the assault rifles from Hause and Worley rattled out their attacks, shredding the aliens.

The ADVENT troops on guard seemed to freeze for a moment, as if unable to figure out what to do before they ducked for cover. That was…unexpected and to be considered after this over. In silence she watched as the squad repositioned themselves to deal with the threat. While it wasn't exactly what she would've chosen, it was close enough that it worked well enough.

Movement in the shadows nearby drew her attention. "Menace 1-5, it looks like you have additional company coming from the east."

One of the squad tapped their comms to confirm her comment, but were too busy with their firefight with the troopers in front of them.

This was the part she hated, she could give them direction on where to go, what to do, what the plan of attack was. But when the fight actually went down, she was powerless to do anything. She could only hope her soldiers had been given all the training they needed to do their jobs. That she'd given the best guidance possible.

They proved their training to be better than ADVENT's as the four soldiers neatly brought down their enemies. Hearing those alien wails from seemingly human mouths was the stuff of nightmares and couldn't help the shudder of revulsion.

Menace 1-5 had brought down the last of the troopers and were reloading as two more guards came running forward. Van silently shook her head. That few against clearly battled hardened troops was suicidal. They should have hunkered down and called for reinforcements. Instead they rain into a hail of bullets that cut them down.

Hause stood guard as the rest of the team began to quickly search the area for anything useful.

She propped the elbow of her left arm in the palm of her right hand as she cupped her left hand around her chin as she thought while staring at the display before her. Van didn't allow herself to think the obviously clichéd line, just in case. Yet she couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling about the whole thing.

Worley commented over the comms. _"What's this over here? Oh shit, a prisoner!"_

That drew her attention to the display showing his camera feed. Sure enough, there was a man in an undershirt and boxers with his hands bound behind him and his mouth gagged, his swarthy skin covered in cuts and bruises.

"Do we have a secure location we can put him in until I can decide what to do with him?" she asked.

Central nodded. "We can figure something out, Commander."

"Menace 1-5, bring the prisoner along with the rest, I don't want to leave him in their hands. If you feel comfortable enough, you can remove the gag, but don't let him go free just yet."

"Yes'm!"

Central nodded approvingly. "I'll make sure the arrangements are taken care of."

"Thank you."

"Commander?" One of the techs asked to get her attention. "There's a dropship on its way to the AO."

She walked briskly over to look at his display. "Can you project where it'll land?"

"Yes, Commander." He tapped a couple of keys and an outline came up on screen. A small, vicious smile curved her mouth at the location.

"Menace 1-5, you'll have to speed up loading Firebrand, you have incoming. Defcon, you get to use your little surprise after all." She suspected that the place would be a likely spot for reinforcements to drop, it was good to know that her instincts for that still worked.

" _When did you want it set off?"_

"As soon as the incoming dropship delivers its cargo."

Van could easily see the feral grin in her mind's eye as Defcon eagerly replied. _"Sure thing, boss!"_

The last of the portable cargo, including the oh-so-important corpse of the officer, was loaded as the dropship approached. The dropship was a massive, boxy thing that was sleekly black with red accents. Really, did they have to so blatantly rip off the clichéd evil overlords in such a manner?

The doors of the dropship opened to reveal another officer with two additional troopers. They were promptly consumed by a blast of flame and cacophonous sound as the corner of the building that held the explosives collapsed. The blast even affected the dropship, sending it careening into a nearby building causing part of it to collapse with the ship into the street below.

"Central, remind me to have a word with Defcon about 'loud and flashy, but not much damage'."

"I'm pretty sure you don't need the reminder."

"All right, remind me to make sure it's a _civil_ conversation."

"No promises on that score, but she might not survive Shieldmaiden's wrath to have a conversation with you. Civil or not."

" _This is Firebrand, the children are safely stowed in the back along with all of their toys. Though Defcon seems to be in the timeout corner."_

Van just barely managed to stifle her smile at that.

What sounded suspiciously like a chuckle came out of Central. He cleared his throat. "As soon as Firebrand lands, we'll head out."

"So what area did you intend for us to go to ground?"

"Resistance HQ, give our people a chance to stretch their legs without worrying about attracting unwonted attention."

The Commander slowly swiveled on the heel of one foot to stare at her Central Officer. This was the first she'd heard of anything like that. Until now she assumed Avenger was it. "Resistance HQ?"

"Shit," Central said. "Sorry about that, Commander." He gestured for her to walk with him and as she did she saw that he was limping more. Hopefully Tygan's research would come up with something useful. He grunted. "I'll live, Commander."

"Maybe so, Central, but taking a break would be a good idea. You urge me to do that often enough."

"Why do you think we're going to the bridge?"

Van couldn't help smiling back in return.

Soon enough they were ensconced in the chairs and she marveled that it had just been that morning that she'd unloaded onto him in this room. It felt like more than just a half day since the easiness between them seemed to be back as he stretched out his legs with a quiet sigh. He leaned forward to start tapping at the screens. "Don't fuss, Van, I'll be all right."

"I didn't say anything."

John eyed her. "You were thinking plenty."

Of course she was thinking plenty, but she was allowed to worry about people she cared about. There weren't many left and they were all on the Avenger. The most important one by her side. Van was never one to make many friends, but she'd had a few that were worth it. Unfortunately, Bradford was the last of those friends left.

So yes, she was feeling a bit overprotective.

"All right, I'll make a deal with you. If you promise not to fuss over me, I won't fuss over you."

John blinked at her. "I haven't fussed over you."

"Uh huh." She deepened her voice, though there was no way she was going to abuse her throat by trying to fully mimic his broken-glass-in-whiskey voice. "'Maybe you should get some rest. Commander.' 'Van, have you eaten recently?'"

"I'm allowed to express concern for your wellbeing since you're my friend besides the Commander of XCOM."

"And I'm not allowed to feel the same over my second in command and probably the last friend I have?" Shit. She hadn't meant the last part slip out, but there it was.

He winced. "All right. Maybe you have a point."

"Thank you," she said in all seriousness.

After giving her another long look, he said, "As for Resistance HQ, it's not much. The Resistance is pretty scattered with no real leadership. Valley does what he can, but he doesn't have the means to organize the entire globe."

"But now that the Avenger is up and running the way she should be, we do."

"Not just the Avenger, Van, we have you also."

She just looked at him. He gave her a sheepish one in return. Hoping to get back into less dangerous conversational waters, Van asked, "So is Valley his nickname or something?"

"No. That's his last name. His name is Bartholomew Valley, not surprisingly he prefers to be known by his last name than any version of his first. So when you meet him, stick to his last name."

"With a name like that, I can see why."

"Exactly."

"Anything else I should know about this HQ?" Van asked hesitantly.

"It's an old Russian installation, might even date back to the USSR days."

"Okay?" She wasn't quite sure where he was going with that.

"That's because it's in the Ural Mountains."

She thought that over. "I'm going to guess it's probably not in the southern section of the range."

"No, it's up in the Arctic region."

Of course it would be in a place that even she, who loved the cold, considered a frozen hell. "I'm hoping there's some sort of cold weather gear around here somewhere?"

"Yeah. There should be a box at the bottom of your closet, if not, let me know and I'll make sure you're set up with some."

She took that as her cue to leave. "I'll see you in the morning then. Have a good night and make sure you get some sleep yourself."

Instead of huffing at her for fussing, he just smiled a little. "G'night, Van. Don't worry, I will. If I'm dealing with Valley tomorrow, I'm going to need all of my wits about me."

Great, just great. Before she got any further into the conversational quagmire she headed off to her quarters for more catching up while waiting for the team to return with the prisoner and supplies.


	12. Chapter 12

_**February 2, 2035**_

 _ **08:30 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Russian Countryside**_

Taking a slow sip of coffee, Van considered the display before her in the research area showing the video feed of their newly acquired prisoner. Next to the video was what details that had on one Matthew Stravis. "So he's an engineer. Apparently a decent one."

At her right, she could feel Bradford nod.

She went on. "And he also passed all of your tests, Tygan? He's not likely to be brainwashed or anything?"

Tygan nodded from her left. "I've run every test we've come up with to check for any type of control."

"What do you think, Lily?" She directed her question to another screen where the Chief was doing something down in Engineering so she was doing a video conference.

" _He knows his stuff. It might take him a bit to get used to life on the Avenger, but I'm pretty sure he'll adapt. Be better than whatever the aliens had in mind for him."_

"So why am I being asked about him?" Maybe she was just being slow from the time change and the fact that someone had remotely turned off her alarm so she ended up sleeping later than she should have. She was still trying to figure out the culprit, because it could have been any of the three she was talking to at the moment.

Said culprits looked at one another, but it was Bradford who spoke. "Because we want to make sure you're all right with the decision."

So she wouldn't say anything she'd likely regret, Vanessa took a long drink from her mug. "Look, I get that I'm supposed to be in charge here, but the three of you are adults. Not only adults, but experts in your respective fields. So if you tell me that someone is what you need and you can vouch for them. I'm fine with that. Just make sure they don't have access to outside communication until they're fully vetted. We clear?"

When they gave their agreements, she relaxed. "Good. Now from what I understand we're currently grounded because of one of the infamous winter storms of the area?"

"Yes." Bradford grumbled. "I'd checked the weather reports beforehand of course, but this one of those storms that just whips up out of nowhere. It shouldn't last too long, but it's for the best that we remain grounded for a day or so due to the extreme gusts of wind that can occur."

"Fair enough. Unless I'm needed for anything else, I'm going to be in my quarters."

" _That's it for me, Vanessa."_ Lily said. _"I'll talk with you later."_

As the engineer signed off, the other two also agreed with her. Leaving them to their own business, she headed out, grateful there hadn't been any arguments with her decision.

She'd already had a rather spirited discussion with Tygan about his research. For some reason he seemed disinclined to work on the ADVENT officer just yet, troubled by something he didn't want to discuss. He insisted on finishing his current project, rather than putting it on hold for later.

Or maybe it was like he said, that it was good to be studying something closer to his chosen field of study.

When she came out of R&D, Hause perked up from where he was lounging about and started to nonchalantly amble along with her as she walked along. For some reason it felt like the soldier was acting as a bodyguard rather than guarding those on the Avenger from her.

She very firmly squelched the rising doubt and fear. Which proved to be a good thing when she got paged by Bradford as soon as she walked into the room. _"Commander, there's a secure transmission coming through for you from an unknown source."_

"Are you sure that's wise?"

" _Yes, it has all the current codes identifying it as coming from a Resistance operative."_

Feeling more than a little nervous about the message, she sat down at her desk to set the computer to record. Just in case. "All right, put it through."

The large display at her desk flashed to life with an all too familiar image of a suited man backlit so that his features weren't visible. Van was very glad to be sitting down for this. She hadn't expected him to still be around.

He had a second think coming to him if he thought he could tell her what to do this time around.

That too well known gravelly voice came over the speakers. _"Hello Commander."_

"Mr. Spokesman." Years spent in academia had taught her how to main a blandly polite expression no matter what detestable person you were dealing with. Normally she didn't bother, but with this particular individual, she'd use it.

He gave the impression of leaning forward slightly to consider her. _"It's good to see you, Commander."_

It sounded like he meant it, which was disturbing. She'd always had the impression that he disapproved of her methods, despite what Bradford had told her the day before. "Thank you. I take it this isn't a social call."

" _It isn't."_ He folded his hands together _. "The Council you once knew is no more. Its membership have all sworn loyalty to the ADVENT Administration. With one exception. In the days since your capture I have done all I can to aid the Resistance from the inside."_

She nodded in silence. She'd already figured the gutless assholes had given up to the aliens, but it still hurt to hear that confirmation. It pissed her off even more.

The display changed to a room she'd heard about from Bradford. A room full of computer equipment. At the center was a large tube with a certain suit she'd hoped never to see again. The Spokesman continued. _"It was these Resistance operatives that provided the intel leading to your recent extraction. As of now, Resistance forces are currently somewhat… disorganized."_

It took a great deal of willpower not to snort at that understatement. From what she'd pried out of Bradford, there wasn't much to work with. The staff in Mission Control had been much more informative. There wasn't any kind of organization outside of the small regional cells.

The display returned to the shadowy figure. _"If we are to defeat ADVENT and their alien masters, you must change this before it is too late."_

Another shift on the display, on the left hand side a long string of reports, on the right a list of ADVENT identification cards. It looked almost as if the top of the cards had a string of DNA as the main identifier beside the standard picture, name and contact info. _"What you are seeing are classified reports of missing civilians from across the world. Their numbers are growing. We suspect they have been taken to a nearby ADVENT black site, though its exact location remains unknown."_

The display shifted to a blurry picture of some unidentifiable containers. Van suspected she didn't want to see what was in them. Another shift and a topographical map of the world flowed across the display showing locations of the abductions.

" _Time is short, Commander McKenzie. We need you to take charge of Resistance operations throughout the world. Establish contact with the local cells and bring them into the fold. Find this black site. And. Shut. It. Down. Save our world. The clock is ticking."_

She mentally rolled her eyes at his drama. Though there maybe something he should know.

"Before you go, Mr. Spokesman. There's something you should know." She summed up what Tygan had discovered so far about what the aliens had done to her.

" _That is troubling news, Commander, but it doesn't alter my decision in encouraging the Resistance to bring you back to us."_

"I see. There is one small thing I would like to know. When exactly did the Council surrender to the aliens?"

He paused. _"I think you know, Commander. For what it is worth, I am sorry that I could not persuade them to hold out longer. We were winning under your leadership."_

"But they were given the usual incentives to turn," she replied numbly.

" _Yes. There is one other thing you should know. The aliens wanted you specifically. The destruction of XCOM was one of their objectives, but not the primary one. I was never able to get the exact reasons why. So when those operatives got the proof that you were still alive, I made sure they knew how to get the information to the remnants XCOM."_

"Thank you."

" _You are welcome. I'm sending the file with what details I have so far. Good luck, Commander."_

When the transmission ended, Van blew out her breath as she stopped the recording. "No pressure there."

Really, it was nothing new from what she'd concluded on her own from what she'd been told by John, Lily and Tygan combined with what research she'd been able to do. It was still chilling to hear that confirmation from someone like the Spokesman. Chilling and infuriating.

But it meant she didn't have to answer to anyone, except for possibly her senior staff. Though she suspected she'd have to violate a great number of her own ethical boundaries before they'd challenge her. Except for possibly Lily, who seemed to have her father's ethics.

So she was free to do what she needed to.

It wasn't the Council's betrayal that was causing her nerves. It stemmed from the confirmation that the aliens had wanted her specifically. Why her? Why the simulations? Again, what else had they done to her?

Refusing to let her mind run around in little circles while gnawing at itself, she rested her forehead against the palms of her hands with her elbows braced on the desktop. She began to study the file after pushing herself upright.

So many people just gone. Instead of just walking out of their homes to work or errands or any other daily task, they just walked out of their lives.

Feeling sick, Van contacted Central. "Did you listen in on that conversation?"

" _No. Why would I?"_

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, it wasn't time to discuss what keeping someone under observation meant. "Do you have some time? I have something I need to show you from that transmission just now."

" _Of course. I'll be there in a few minutes."_

"Thank you."

Vanessa was staring at the long list of missing people when Bradford arrived. She felt him watching her, but she couldn't face him yet for reasons she couldn't articulate to herself much less anyone else. All she could say was. "Take a seat. It won't be long, but this is likely to end in a long conversation."

He was silent for a moment then said, "All right."

Hearing the creak of the cushions as he sat, she started the video, then brought the file back up once it was over. She forced herself to turn around to face him. Bradford had the same sick and haunted expression that she imagined she wore as well.

"God, Van. I'm not sure which is worse, knowing that the abductions have resumed, if they never stopped, or knowing that it was the Council of all people who betrayed us." He got up to stand next to her to study the display. He shook his head. "Never imagined the Spokesman was still around and was a source of our intel."

Without turning his attention away from the reports before them, he commented a little too casually. "Better not be blaming yourself for the attack on the HQ. They would've done that no matter what."

"I'm not." She wasn't really. "I'm just feeling… Unsettled. Angry. Oddly free."

"I imagine so," John said as he turned toward her to put an arm around her shoulders. Acting on a desire she felt since she realized that John really was the man he said he was, Van turned so she could put her arms around him for a tight hug. Standing there holding and being held by a friend was good. That it was John who was the friend made it that much better.

She let herself to revel just a bit in how well they fit together.

Finally they stepped back and she smiled. "Thank you. I needed that."

He smiled back. "So did I. More than I realized." He sighed and turned toward back to the reports. "Any idea of what they have in common?"

"None at first glance. I'll have Lily run the numbers through the main computer to see if she can come up with any correlations so I have a second set of eyes examining this. I'd ask Tygan, but he's already got plenty on his plate as it is."

"True." He stared at the display for a little longer, then shook his head again. "And I'm holding you up from your work."

"If you don't mind, I think I'd like to come back to Mission Control with you. I could use being around people right now. I can do my research there just as well."

"Mind? Why would I mind when you have as much right to be there as I do."

"Because I feel like I'm underfoot there when I'm not running an op."

He snorted. "Hardly." Then a thoughtful look crossed his face. "You're talking about the old Mission Control too."

"Yes."

"Hmph. You were hardly underfoot there too."

That's not what it seemed like to her, but she wasn't going to argue. He clapped a hand on her shoulder to gently steer her to the door. "C'mon, Commander," he said lightheartedly. "How about we both get underfoot."

She smiled at him again and walked along with him.

As they left her quarters and his hand dropped away, John asked. "Free, huh?"

"Yes. Free from the Council's leash and muzzle. I can run XCOM the way I want to without having to do things to deal with their hysteria. If I have to compromise my ethical principles it'll be on my terms. "

Realizing what that probably sounded like, she paused.

John made an amused sound. "Don't worry, Van, I get where you're going. It'll be good to see what you're capable of without fetters."

Yes. That was the source of her current unease. She was unfettered. Free to do what she wanted. It was a dizzying, dazzling thought.

"Don't worry, Van. I'll keep you grounded so you don't go off course."

"Thank you, yet again."

He just smiled in return as they walked into Mission Control.


	13. Chapter 13

_(Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to my friend M. A. Ray, whose Saga of Menyoral series inspired Valley, Dingal and Kessia.)_

February 3, 2035

 _ **09:37 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

Despite the heavy parka the wind whipped right through Bradford like an icy razor as he made the quick walk from the Avenger's ramp to the door of Resistance HQ. Not for the first time he considered trying to talk Valley into a location in a friendlier environment and as always dismissed it. The location was ideal because of the hostile environment.

No one in their right mind actually wanted to live in this place. Not even the aliens.

Seeing Van strolling along as she looked around didn't help much. Granted she was bundled up the way their escort was, but unlike everyone else, she seemed more interested in looking around than hurrying to the warmth of indoors. Just as he was about to say something, he saw her take in the pace of the escort and began to move faster.

The main entrance was large enough for the entire party to enter at the same time. It had been designed similarly to an airlock so that the interior wouldn't lose a majority of its heat every time the door was opened. Even so it was still warmer inside as the outer door closed. When the inner door opened it came with a welcome blast of heat.

At the inner door was Valley with his two shadows and additional staff. Bartholomew Valley was a short man, a few inches shorter than Vanessa, but built like a brick shithouse with a face of granite under slightly curly hair the color of iron.

The older, and much taller, of the two shadows was a tall beanpole of a young man by the name of Dingal. He was in his late teens with a shock of truly bright orange hair over a face that seemed more freckle than clear skin.

The other shadow was a girl by the name of Kessia. Bradford never could figure out if she and Ding were siblings or not, since she too had red hair and freckles, though not quite as many as Dingal. Tall like the young man, she was much more lushly built. He wondered how many people Valley had to beat off of her on a regular basis.

Once the heavy outerwear was shed and stored in nearby lockers, Valley stepped up to Bradford to give him a tight handshake. "Been awhile, John." He gave Bradford a long look over his hawk-like nose. "Looking damn good."

Hoping to distract the man from the condition Bradford had been in the last time they met, he gestured to Van, who was standing patiently nearby. "Valley. I'd like to introduce you to Commander Vanessa McKenzie."

"Commander McKenzie, it's good to finally meet you." He shook her hand while regarding her curiously. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Thank you, Mr. Valley. It's good to meet you as well."

"Mister?" Valley asked Bradford incredulously. "What the hell have you been telling this woman?" Bradford just held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. The shorter man turned back to Van. "It's just Valley, no Mister, no Val, no Vale. Just Valley."

"All right," she replied agreeably. There was a suspicious glint in her eyes. "Valley. Call me Vanessa."

Valley just looked at her for a moment, then gave a sharp nod. "Vanessa, these two are my assistants, Ding and Kess."

Ding's eyes widened in surprise as Vanessa shook his hand as she greeted him. "Hello, Ding. Ah. That's not your actual name is it?"

The poor kid colored a bit. "My name is Dingal, can't get many good nicknames out of that."

"I can see that." She gave him a sympathetic grin. "Better than getting called Red all the time."

He smiled back, then fell back behind Valley looking stunned.

Kess was much more outgoing than Bradford remembered the way she started to chatter at Van. The delighted smile the chatter drew out warmed his heart.

As Valley stomped off to begin the tour of the facility, she quietly commented to Bradford so that little ears wouldn't hear her. "If there were a picture under the word pugnacious in the dictionary, it would be his."

The wicked grin she gave in response to his choking cough to muffle his laughter made it that much harder to breathe. Valley turned to look at what they were up to and shook his head. "I probably don't want to know."

Watching Van go on the tour of the ancient military facility proved to be a pleasure. The way those normally stormy eyes had brightened as she drank in the sight of the place had him reevaluating it. At first Bradford was a little confused by her excitement until he realized that it wasn't just a piece of history. It was a piece of history she could connect to that had nothing to do with the weird turn life had taken.

The tour ended at the communications room. It didn't have the equipment the Avenger did, so he wasn't quite sure why Van seemed so excited about it until he heard her questioning the two staffers about the range of the equipment and what cells they were in contact with. It struck him then that everything that had been tripping her up was the lack of intel.

He'd forgotten she was an information sponge. Van thrived on the amounts of data that would overwhelm anyone else.

While Bradford was mulling that over, he saw Kess and Ding shyly approach Van. Whatever it was they discussed made the two kids smile happily. Van looked over at him. "Unless I'm needed right now, Ding and Kess want to show me some of the out buildings that weren't included in the tour."

Bradford had a good idea what buildings those were and thought that wasn't a bad idea. They'd already discussed the merit of him meeting with Valley alone first based off how long the two men had known each other. He'd agreed with the idea since he wasn't sure if Valley really was prepared to meet with the Commander in a private meeting.

Besides, it'd do her a lot of good to spend time on an activity that wasn't related to XCOM.

Valley gave the two kids a hairy eyeball. "You aren't planning on wasting the Commander's time with the barns are you?"

Seeing the kids deflate at his criticism, Bradford was about to say something when the Commander spoke first.

With eyes like steel and a voice that was decidedly frosty she said, "Mister Valley. I appreciate your concern, but I am capable of deciding what is a waste of my time. Unless there are duties they'll be neglecting in this tour?"

Valley blinked. "No, ma'am."

"Good, we'll see you later."

It took a real effort not to laugh at the Resistance leader's stunned expression.

As the kids led Van out of the room, Valley came up to him and jabbed him in the ribs. Hard. "Let's walk and talk, Bradford."

Even though Valley had wanted to talk, he was oddly silent until they got to his office. It was a small space taken up by a massive, battered wooden desk. Said desk was hard to see since it was covered by a large number of papers and other, less identifiable, flotsam and jetsam. It was just as well that Van wasn't there, only one visitor's chair in front of the desk was clear. The other was piled high with a stack of books.

Once Bradford was seated Valley asked, "Coffee?"

"Please."

He wasn't quite sure where the coffee maker was kept, but it was hot and freshly brewed. After filling the mugs, Valley gave him an unreadable look. "I'll admit, I was originally going to say something that would have probably have gotten me punched."

"I was wondering. You've been oddly circumspect."

"Heh. First, Vanessa seems like a generally nice person. You don't piss off that type, because when you do they can make a man's life hell. Particularly when one sentence can make a guy feel like he's a twelve year old pervert trying to look up the skirts of little girls."

The laugh he'd been holding back finally came out. "I saw."

Valley laughed with him, then gave him a sharp look over his beak like nose as he abruptly turned serious. "Secondly… Isn't she a little young for you?"

"Excuse me?"

"She can't be any older than twenty-five, John. Let's face it, it's been decades for both of us since we saw that age."

Really not liking where the conversation seemed to be going, Bradford snarled. "Vanessa is my friend and my Commander. Have a care about how you talk about her."

"You keep telling yourself that, John. Your reaction just now should be your wake up call. And if it isn't… Well. I saw the way you looked at her, which I can understand. I haven't heard you laugh like that in, honestly, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh that in the years we've known each other." He sighed a bit. "I also saw how she looked back at you." He gave John a sly look. "That part I don't get. A pretty woman like that looking at an old geezer like you?"

Not trusting himself with what he might do, Bradford put his mug down on the floor and growled. "Bartholomew, if you keep this up, I will do worse than punch you."

Valley leaned back in his chair with his fingers laced across his paunch and a toothy grin. "You just told me everything I need to know."

The grin faded away. "Seriously, and not to piss you off, but you should tell her, John. Even if you're likely to be robbing the cradle."

He ground his teeth for a moment as he damned his friend's too sharp gaze. "I've had her back for maybe a week. I'm not going to put her in that kind of uncomfortable position. And for the record she was thirty when they captured her."

The last sentence earned a derisive snort.

Bradford sighed and stared over Valley's shoulder as he tried to figure out what he was going to say. Van had given him permission to tell whatever he felt comfortable with. That was the rub though. What did he tell the man he'd known longer than he had the woman in question?

Finally he looked at the man who had been waiting with uncharacteristic patience. "She was in their hands for twenty years, Valley. They had her in stasis, doing God only knows what. We've made sure she isn't controlled in anyway, but she needs time to come to terms with her new reality."

He reached down for the mug of coffee. "Hell, _I_ need time to adjust."

Anyway, he didn't have to tell her. He'd been showing Van how he felt and she'd been reciprocating.

"She was in their cluches all this time?" Valley shook his head. "Are you sure she is who you think she is?"

"Positive."

"Hmmm." Valley thoughtfully drummed his fingers on an arm of his chair as he thought that over. "Too young or not, maybe she really is good for you, despite your terrifying obsession about her. Not only does she get you to laugh, you apparently climbed out of the bottom of the bottle you were living in."

Of course Valley would go for the throat like that. "When I had solid proof of where they had her, I had to get my act together to rescue her."

"Fuck!" Valley exploded. "You were a part of the team that retrieved her? You didn't just plan it?"

"Had to be there. Couldn't just stand idly by. Good thing I was there. She regained consciousness as soon as we pulled her out of that tube. Maybe even when I opened it."

"Shit." He frowned in thought. "And that's how you got that limp. Because you weren't limping like that when you were here a few months ago."

"Yeah. I got shot as we were extracting. I'm healing fine." He scowled across the desk. "Don't tell her."

Valley held up his hands. "Wouldn't dream of setting her off over that. I may not know Vanessa specifically, but I've known women like her. If you haven't told her, she won't take it well hearing about it from someone else."

"Good." He finally drank some of his coffee.

"All right," Valley grunted. "So what are your plans now?"

"It depends partly on you, we need to organize the Resistance."

"So you're just going to take over?" Valley leaned forward to watch him intently.

"We want to leave you in charge of the HQ to help keep things organized, but now that the Avenger is fully operational we can go out to make contact."

"You think you can just go flying around out there and just get in touch with people?" Valley sneered.

"No. It'll take time. Time to locate the cells, time to convince them who we are and what we're doing. Not to mention we'll need what contacts you have to get starting. As well as help from your people to build up our communications facilities."

"Say I agree. I'm going to need some help from your lot in return."

"That's only fair. What did you want?"

"There's an ADVENT facility that has material we need, but we don't have the means of getting people there easily. And quite frankly, the folks I have really only have enthusiasm going for them."

Bradford didn't even try to hide his wince at that thought. Unfortunately, that was the cause for a lot of the issues plaguing the Resistance. A lot of enthusiasm, but little common sense to keep it in check. "As long as it doesn't have to be right away, I'm sure Vanessa would be agreeable."

"It's not time sensitive. Ideally anytime in the next week if possible. Besides, I'm sure there's shit in there your lot can use." He scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "Which reminds me. You still have that doctor? Teegan, or whatever?"

"Tygan. Yeah, he's the head of our research division. Only one right now. Why?"

"Want another? Typical story, was working for one of the ADVENT projects, saw one of the awful things the aliens are doing and took off as soon as he could. Good kid. He's working in the hydroponics right now, but quite frankly he's wasted on it."

There was a quiet beep from Bradford's tablet. Since he had it silenced except for messages from Van, he said, "Give me one moment."

Hoping something hadn't happened on her tour with the kids, he checked the message and laughed. _Hi John. Met a possible recruit in hydroponics, seems like the kind of person Tygan is looking for. Mind asking Valley if we can steal him? His name is Kendoshi Sparks._

Valley stared at him. "Do I want to know?"

"Is the kid in question named Kendoshi Sparks?"

That startled the other man. "Wha? How'd you know that?"

"Vanessa met him. Looks like the kids took her to hydroponics first."

"That's some coincidence." Valley may have said that blandly, but his expression was full of suspicion.

After sending her a quick reply to let her know that it was okay to snag her recruit, Bradford shook his head. "It doesn't happen often, but she has a habit of finding useful people."

If Tygan was right about her psionic potential that would explain it, but like many other things, this was something Valley didn't need to know.

Dark eyes stared at him again, then Valley sighed. "Let's go round up your Commander and my two assistants before I start losing people I really need to keep around here."

Not in any rush they headed out and quietly discussed general plans for the Resistance and XCOM to start working more closely than they had before.

When they finally did track down the wandering trio, Van was sitting on the floor resting against the side of one of the biggest dogs he'd ever seen with one of the barn cats curled up in her lap. Sitting next to her was Kess with another cat. Ding was lounging against the wall near them smiling down at the two women as the three chatted about something. Then the dog slurped the side of Kess's face causing all three to laugh.

The two men stopped a distance away at the sight. Bradford needed a little time to figure out how to tell Van no go on adopting any animals. The massive brute of a dog would be easy to say no to, but the cat would likely be the harder of the two to say no to. Especially with the way her face was lit up with happiness.

Beside him Valley quietly said, "Damn. I don't think I've seen my kids laughing like this in some time."

Van was the first to see them and she gently set the cat aside before getting up to her feet. She brushed the animal hair off her jumpsuit as she approached them. The smile turned mischievous as she said. "Don't worry, I don't plan on adopting any of the animals. I can't imagine even a cat handling life on the Avenger all that well."

He couldn't help smiling back at her. Though part of it was out of relief at not having to have a difficult conversation. Valley excused himself to round up the two teens to go deal with matters.

Van slanted an unreadable look at the retreating man, then another at him. "You know, I am an adult who is capable of making rational decisions."

"Huh?" He wasn't sure where that came from.

"I saw the look on your face when you and Valley came in here. You had the look I'd seen on parents' faces to their kids when they were about to say no, but hadn't gotten that far yet."

Wincing at the accuracy of her comment, he said. "Sorry, Van. I should've known better."

"Thank you," Van said warmly. Then she got that look that boded trouble. "Besides, can you imagine trying to secure a litter pan so it doesn't go swooshing about whenever the Avenger maneuvers?"

Somehow she managed to get him to laugh again and he knew that he'd been forgiven for the unintentional slight.


	14. Chapter 14

_**February 4, 2035**_

 _ **07:45 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

"Hey Jane, I got something I need you to see," Worley said uneasily.

Jane looked up from the notes she had worked up for the first training session for the Commander. More than a little warily she asked, "You haven't been poking around in senior command's files again, have you?"

His expression said it all.

"Christ Almighty, Worley, you know better than that!" At least the others hadn't gotten to the training room yet, but she expected them at any moment.

The hangdog look on his face didn't help matters. As she considered what level of violence would be acceptable, he held up his hand. "Look, Jane, I know we were all wondering about those consent forms that went around about experimental treatment."

Jane actually hadn't wondered, but then again she had the advantage of knowing how the original XCOM worked. If they found something useful they could adapt from the ETs, they did. Which included medical treatments. There'd been zero pressure for them to agree, If anything there had been a subtle pressure to say no.

Since he wasn't saying anything else, she prompted him. "And?"

"It was the Commander's idea."

"Your point is?"

The big man fidgeted from foot to foot like a small child. "It's why she wanted the release form. Seems the doc thinks he can come up with ways to speed up healing based off whatever the aliens did to her."

She thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. "You weren't there when he dug that shit out of her skull."

"Wait, you were there for that?"

"Yeah, thought everyone knew that. Central and I were the only ones from the team to survive the extraction. I was one of the pair of hands to help with moving equipment. What they did was bad. Really bad. When she was up and moving like she was in just a few days is what got me suspicious."

"But now you're not."

"Nope. Like I said a few days ago. She could've screwed us badly on that retrieval. Could've gotten us really fucking badly on that train raid." He nodded, but didn't seem to listen.

The soldier knew she was going to regret it, but she ended up asking anyway. "So what else did you find out?"

"There was one chip in her head. They were using it to run combat simulations in her head."

That was something she didn't need to hear about. She shook her head. "All right, Jimmy. Listen up. No more digging. You do that and I will break your fingers, no matter what kind of trouble that gets me into." She smoothed back her ponytail. "Hell, I should be reporting you right now."

"So why aren't you?"

"Because you're actually competent at what you do and we can't afford to lose anyone right now. Anyway the person I'd have to report this to would be Central and you don't want to piss off the old man."

Worley paled at the thought. The one thing no one wanted to do was upset Central over the Commander. That was before the extraction. Now that she was actually here, moving and easily resuming her duties, quietly changing things for the better, Jane didn't want to do anything to upset things with regards to Commander McKenzie. Hell, they had two successful ops with no injuries or causalities. It was a frigging miracle the way their previous ops had gone.

Even if Harks almost fucked that one up with her lack of understanding of "flash and bang with no damage".

"All right, Jane. No more digging. I promise." Jimmy finally said with a sigh.

She scowled at him. It wasn't like the hacker to give up on something like this so easily. He held up both hands palm up. "Even I can see the change in attitude around here. I don't wanna fuck it up."

"Good." Hearing the voices of the rest of the troopers in the hall, she semi-growled. "Then forget this stupidity and go get ready for today's training."

"Christ Almighty," Jane muttered to herself, standing arms akimbo as the hacker ambled off. A burst of laughter drew her attention to the door. Where the rest of the troops were around the Commander who was gesturing with one hand, the other at her side with a small carryall, as she was telling them some sort of story. There was another burst of laughter from the soldiers that drew a broad smile from the woman telling the story.

Their distraction gave the soldier time to eyeball the Commander a bit and was a little worried about what she saw. From the way the jumpsuits hung on her frame, Jane had figured the Commander to be slender. However, seeing her in a plain t-shirt and shorts she saw just how thin the woman was. If Doc Tygan hadn't given his okay for the training, she'd've refused thinking the erstwhile trainee needed more time to recover from her ordeals.

Except there was that whole gene therapy thing going on if Worley was right.

She also wondered how the Commander wasn't freezing her ass off. The complex overall was generally kept well heated, but the gym used by the soldiers tended to be on the chilly side. In fact, everyone else was wearing sweats, including shirts. Some would probably shed the heavier tops at some point, but it wasn't likely.

Yet there was the skinny redhead who looked comfortable.

There were cheerful greetings to her and farewells to the Commander from the troopers as they headed off to the locker room for their daily training routine. Once it was just the two of them, Jane said, "Good morning, Commander."

"Morning, Kelly. What's the plan for today?"

"If you'll come with me, ma'am, I'll show you where you can stow your gear. As for the plans, first I'm going to see what kind of physical shape you're in before I decide on a regimen."

"Fair enough." She made a comical grimace. "Though I'm in decidedly flabby shape, even for me."

It didn't take long to get the Commander's carryall put away in the officers' locker room, then it was time to start her evaluations. More than a little reluctantly she pulled out the small container of sensor pads. "This on the orders of the Doc, Commander. He wanted you to be monitored during this part."

A faint smile curved up one corner of the Commander's mouth and those sharp grey eyes laughed, even if she didn't give voice to it. "It's quite all right, Kelly, I half expected something like this."

The next half hour went by quickly as the Commander was put through her paces. Under the rest of Tygan's directions, she kept the results to herself until the testing was done. If Vanessa McKenzie wasn't who she was, Jane would have pushed to make her one of the soldiers. If this was "flabby" she wondered what "fit" was like. The woman was able to lift almost her own weight in a variety of ways. She ran a mile in a little over 6 minutes.

The Commander was sitting on an exercise bench drinking from a bottle of water, soaked in sweat, but hardly out of breath when she said a little sardonically. "Told you I'm flabby, even for my sedentary ways."

Rubbing the back of her neck, Jane tried to figure out how to say what she was going to say.

The other woman's expression fell for a moment, then went carefully neutral. "Ah. That bad then. Well, thank you for the thought. Maybe in a few weeks we can try again."

"It's nothing like that, Commander. The opposite actually. Here, take a look." She handed over her tablet where she had the results displayed. The Commander read it over a few moments, then returned the tablet with a look of confusion. "I don't understand. I've never been in that kind of shape, even ten years ago when I was working full time while going to college."

Jane had a good idea of what the cause was, but since she wasn't supposed to know the details, she had to hedge what she said. "You know I was there when Tygan removed those implants."

That got a nod.

She licked her lips nervously. "No one expected you to be up and moving as quickly as you were, ma'am. Honestly, the Doc thought you probably wouldn't return to consciousness for at least a week. But there you were, up and moving two days later. Not only that, but walking all over the whole damn ship then directing our combat op?"

The Commander looked over Jane's shoulder as she thought something over then refocused her attention on the soldier. "I'm sure this will get out eventually, but I'd appreciate it if you don't spread it around. There was apparently a good bit of gene therapy performed on me. It seemed that it was just to clean up my genetic code, but I guess it was more than that. Which is probably why the doctor wanted the additional monitoring."

Jane thought everything over, then slowly grinned. "Well, this should be exciting then."

"In what way?"

Her grin turned a little evil. "For one thing, the guys have no idea what I'm about to set on them in training."

There was a quiet laugh. "I suspect there's more than that."

"Sure, it'll be interesting to see what it'll be like to train a super human."

This time the laugh was a little uneasy. "I don't know if I would go that far."

Jane was willing to go that far. She bet the woman didn't realize that she'd already stopped sweating. "I guess we'll see then. C'mon, Commander, let's go surprise some people."

"All right." McKenzie capped her bottled and got to her feet easily with no sign of any strain.

That was some good signs. She hadn't really pushed to see what the Commander could do, but she did push her a bit. They made their way to the mats that were laid out for unarmed combat training. "Well, ma'am, you said you have some self-defense and pistol training?"

"Yes. I'm probably at the self-defense against humans. I'm probably barely qualified on the pistol."

Mike Brandt was waiting with Harkes and Hause as she'd requested when she'd set this whole thing up. He had come in board the day before when they had settled in at HQ. She'd already gotten a feel for her fellow ranger's skills. While Jane preferred to move as stealthily as possible, Brandt was the up close and personal type, preferably with his sword. So he seemed like a good fit for this exercise.

"Okay, Commander, I'm going to start you off with someone your own size. Harkes, if you will?"

The grenadier nodded and moved into a crouch. Interestingly, the Commander didn't move into the traditional martial arts stance of one foot forward with the other behind to brace and neither did she go into a similar crouch as Harkes. Instead she seemed to bounce slightly on the balls of her feet with a loose and easy posture.

When Harkes charged, the Commander slid to her left, hooked a foot around the other woman's ankle to trip her. The next few minutes went by similarly, Harkes would attack and the Commander would do some sort of evasive maneuver.

After the Commander ended up with her back to Jane, she nodded to Brandt to join the fray to see how well their trainee could handle multiple people. The man might not have been big on stealth in general, but he proved to be light on his feet as he went for the Commander's back.

Showing either amazing hearing or situational awareness, McKenzie dodged Brandt's attack and shoved him from behind into Harkes. The move was all brute force and none of the grace seen from a practitioner of Aikido, but hey, whatever worked. "Okay, that's enough for now."

Brandt grinned. "Nice move there, Boss."

"Thank you. Though depending on the situation they don't always work."

Jane had a feeling she knew what the Commander was referring to, but decided to see how Brandt would handle this.

He clapped the slender woman on a shoulder. Despite the fact that she looked like a strong wind could knock her over, she didn't even twitch at the motion. "That's why you're here, isn't it Bosslady? You've got a good foundation to build on." He tilted his head and looked at her thoughtfully. "Ever try a sword?"

The Commander gave him a wide eyed look. "No. I didn't exactly have the opportunity for that. And until now, wasn't exactly practical."

Brandt looked questioningly over at her and Jane shrugged. "If the Commander is willing, you can give her a demo."

"I have the time since I dedicated the morning to this session. So as long as I'm not keeping you from your training or duties..."

Jane shook her head. "This morning you are our duty. I'll let Brandt help pick out a training sword."

The Commander looked at her questioningly as Brandt gave her a broad smile. She shrugged. "It can't hurt and if you do learn it, it's a good weapon to have on hand just in case. And you don't have to worry about an accidental discharge."

"All right. Let's see how this goes then." Brandt was almost bouncing in eagerness as he led the boss off to get a practice blade.

Harkes smirked. "This should be amusing. You know you just made his day, right?"

"Yeah. I know he's really big on the swordwork, though he's almost as good with a gun."

Hause sauntered up. "Sure this is a good idea, Shield?"

"The worst that'll happen are a few bruises and we'll move on to see how she is with guns. And before you worry too much, she's a grown woman who knows that training will result in sweat and bruises, maybe a little blood."

"And that's why you've got me on this?" Hause asked. "The Commander is capable at using a computer, but she doesn't sound like she's really keen trying to learn how to hack."

"She didn't ask about it, though she's more likely to ask Chief Shen about anything tech related. I have you here just in case someone does get hurt."

"Then here's hoping that Brandt has half a clue on how to train someone," Harkes commented sardonically. "Somehow I don't think he'd appreciate you kicking him off this particular bit of training."

"Probably, let's not get ahead of ourselves, here they come now."

She could see the two were already deep in conversation as Brandt was carefully gesturing with one of the foam covered batons they used for practice while the Commander nodded every so often. The other two faded behind her as Brandt and his would be trainee took up their place in the practice area.

Wanting to see how this would go without interference, Jane folded her arms across her chest in silence to watch. She had to admit she was impressed as Brandt began to show the Commander the very basics of wielding a sword. Jane wasn't sure which impressed her more, Brandt's patience or how quickly the Commander was catching on.

She thought back on the gene therapy and wondered how much of this was natural or the aliens' meddling.

Not that the Commander was perfect from the start, but it only took a couple of corrections for her to get each move down correctly.

"Not bad," Harkes commented, watching the pair thoughtfully. From the corner of her eye Jane could see that the soldiers not involved in the training were finding excuses to go by to watch. There was respect in all of their eyes, but some of them seemed almost on the verge of hero worship. She wasn't surprised, like herself they'd grown up as part of the Resistance and there'd always been talk about Commander Vanessa McKenzie.

Now she was beginning to understand Central's obsession in finding her. There was something about Vanessa McKenzie that grew on a person the more they got to know the Commander. Seeing how she treated all the soldiers would have been enough to make her overcome her doubts. And now seeing how she paid full attention to Brandt's instructions without any kind of condescension seemed like a kind of marvel.

"Yeah, there's some real potential there."

"Yep, and with those long arms of hers, she'll have decent reach against a lot of opponents, even some of the aliens. Going to go full out and teach her how to be a Ranger?"

"Depends on how she does with the guns. Though truthfully, even if she can't hit the broad side of the barn, just teaching her how to use a sword to defend herself would be enough for someone to get to her if the Avenger gets overrun. She's got the strength now to crack open the armor your average ADVENT trooper wears."

The blue haired woman pursed her mouth slightly as she regarded the two sparring on the mats before them. The pleased look of concentration on the Commander's face matched Brandt's. "She looks half-starved to have that kind of strength."

"I know, but she's got it. We give the proper strength and endurance training, I think she'll be quite the sight with a blade in her hands."

"Combat training is going to be tough."

Jane thought about it and shrugged. "Not really, it'll be the same as the rookies. Only a bit more respectful."

Kay snorted in amusement. "As in not calling her a maggot brained idiot?"

"Yeah, yeah that would be bad. If only because she's hardly an idiot."

A soft beep from her tablet got her attention. Seeing the time, she called out to the two fighters as they paused for Brand to explain something. "All right, time's up."

They backed up and the Commander grinned. "Thank you, Brandt, that was actually fun. I hope you won't mind if I ask if you and Kelly can fit this into my training schedule."

He beamed at her. "Not at all, ma'am. It'll be my pleasure. Let's go put these away and you can cool off on your way to the firing range."

"Fun," Harkes commented in disbelief.

"It can be."

Hause wisely remained quiet as Kay shook her head as they headed for the range. Seeing the small crowd that was slowly following them caused Jane to smile a bit. It was a good thing she'd accounted for the troops' curiosity and knew they'd settle down after the first few times the Commander joined them. At least they better do so. She really didn't feel like dropping on them like a ton of bricks, but would do so if needed.

At least they took up various guns to practice, including Hause and Harkes, while Jane and Brandt tested the Commander on the pistol.

That was the first time they ran into a situation where she was just barely competent. It seemed so strange that the coordination she showed with the sword was so completely lacking with a gun. Not that it was automatic, but there was generally some sort of crossover.

Jane studied the Commander from different angles then saw the problem. Or rather problems. It wasn't any one thing, but a variety of factors. Small things like how she was holding the gun, the way she stood and similar things. For a moment Jane saw red. The instructor she had should have picked up on something. And if that person had been a part of XCOM…

Dismissing her anger at a person likely to be dead, Jane approached the Commander at an angle so the other woman could see her. After enabling the safety and properly putting the gun away, the boss gave her a wry smile. "Guess I'm worse than I remembered."

"Well, there's a few adjustments you can make that might help."

It was a true pleasure to have a trainee who really paid attention to the instruction they were getting and seeing even a small improvement from those instructions. The smile that lit up said trainee's face just made it perfect.

"I knew there was something off, but I never could figure out just what it was. I'm sorry I never took up any of the troops on their offers to help me practice in the past."

"It was a different time, Commander, and I don't think anyone expected the attack that happened."

"You're right about that. Thank you again for your time."

She smiled. "Oh, you're quite welcome, Commander. You're going to spoil me with the fact that you're listening to me."

The Commander grinned slightly. "Well, you're an expert in your field, so I am going to listen to you."

"You have a point there, ma'am."

Brandt made a gesture to get her attention. "Why don't you go through another clip? I'm going to see what kind of trouble someone has gotten themselves into."

"I'm not in trouble or causing trouble, I'll have you know," he said when Jane walked over to him.

"All right, what is it you wanted to talk about so urgently then?"

"I think we should see how the Commander handles a shotgun."

"You want to train her as one of us."

"Yeah. Look how she worked with the sword and unarmed combat. She's a natural for our close combat style. Don't bother with an assault rifle, but keep up the pistol training because they're easier to conceal."

"All right. Let's see how this goes."

She grabbed one of the nearby shotguns racked for practice and went to see what the Commander thought of the idea. Brandt trailed behind her. Jane could practically feel the hope pouring off him.

The new weapon got a confused look. She explained. "Brandt here thought you might take to the shotgun better than the pistol or an assault rifle."

Confusion turned to wariness. "I'm not so sure about that, Kelly. The pistol is almost too much."

"It can't hurt to try, can it?"

"You're right," the Commander replied before putting the safety on the gun, ejecting the spent clip, checking to make sure that a round wasn't still in the firing chamber before putting the weapon away. "Okay, let's see how this goes."

It didn't take long to explain the shotgun or to adjust the target for the gun. The moment that the Commander started to practice she knew that Brandt was right. She looked over at the broadly grinning man. "Looks like she is yours then."

"Excuse me?"

"You seem to do better with close quarter work so I'm putting him in charge of your training."

She eyed him. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

He shook his head. "Nah. You're not an idiot, just be ready to work hard."

"That's one thing I'm not afraid of doing. Though it looks like it's time for me to get moving."

She put away the gear before heading to the locker room and Jane went to check on her people to see how they were doing.

It was when the Commander was leaving, freshly showered and changed into a jumpsuit, that a new complication came up.

Jane was working with Worley when Central arrived, a thing he never did unless it was time for him to work out, which it wasn't. While he politely greeted those that called out to him, she could see he had eyes for only one person.

Vanessa, and that was the only way she could think of the woman at the moment, smiled warmly at Central. "Came to make sure I didn't get broken?"

Central smiled back at her. "Something like that."

Jane marveled once again that the man's face didn't shatter from that since in all the time she'd known the man, he wasn't known for being lighthearted.

"Oh shit," Worley breathed.

"The fingers deal applies to this too, Jimmy."

The two officers said the last of their goodbyes and headed off. Worley shook his head. "I won't say anything, because when a woman like the Commander looks at a man the way she did with Central, you don't want to mess with that."

Shaking her head, she set him to enough reps to make him too tired to gab about what he saw, but suspected that he wasn't the only one to see the exchange for what it was.

That's okay, enough push ups would get that out of anyone's mind.


	15. Chapter 15

_**February 8, 2035**_

 _ **23:55 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

Van stood before the main display of Mission Control with her hands clasped behind her watching Menace 1-5's advance on the perimeter of the warehouse that Valley had designated as their target. She frowned at the dark, boarded up and seemingly abandoned warehouse.

Something about this situation stank to high heaven.

Since John had assured her that Valley cold be trusted, she'd allowed him into her Mission Control to observe this op. So she directed her question to him, rather than Central who was keeping an eye on the secondary displays for her. "Valley, are you sure this is the facility in question?"

"Positive. My source who told me about this place is one of my most reliable people."

Central took one look at her expression and asked for them both. "Have you heard from the contact since the first tip?"

"More like the only tip. I haven't heard back from him, but it can take up to a month before he's able to get in touch again."

Stupid, careless man, she thought scornfully as her nostrils flared with her temper.

Throttling down her anger, Van said as calmly as she could. "Menace 1-5 hold your position. Shieldmaiden, think you can get quietly get access to the roof to see if there's any skylights to check out the interior?"

" _Okay, bosslady."_

Letting her shotgun swing down to her side on its combat sling, Shieldmaiden made her way to the wall in silence, leaving the other five members of the squad behind. When Van learned that they had limited themselves to four people at a time since that was Central was comfortable leading, she increased the size to the standard six she was used to. So now she had a sniper by the name of Sara Curen and Brandt as an additional Ranger.

Of the lot, Shieldmaiden was still her best scout.

Seeing the way the soldier swarmed up the side of the building, Van had a sinking feeling that Brandt was going to have that as part of her training at some point. Then she saw how the rest of the squad had positioned themselves and she tried not to sigh.

It was going to be one of _those_ nights.

"Menace 1-5, you need to spread out more. One grenade would take out the lot of you."

There was a quiet grumbling sound from Shieldmaiden as they followed Van's orders. She'd leave punishment duty to the woman who was essentially the squad leader for the time being. Shieldmaiden had a fine grasp on what made appropriate punishments.

" _I'm at a skylight, and there is activity down here. Putting through a visual to you now."_

The interior of the warehouse was brightly lit and it was filled with crates. It also looked like there were a good number of ADVENT. A few sectoids, then her brain stuttered to a halt at one of the things patrolling with one of the soldiers. It looked like someone had melded a human woman with a snake.

Considering what the aliens could be like, she wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't what happened.

"So what are we dealing with in regards to the snakewoman thing?"

Central looked over. "Huh, a viper. I've heard of them, but never saw one before. I'm told they're designed from the same species as the thin men we used to deal with, Commander. Obviously they're not used for infiltration anymore."

Great, it meant poison spit at range not just the plasma rifle it was carrying. Before she could warn the squad, she heard Worley comment. _"Huh, I wonder what's over there?"_

Van mentally sighed and said warningly. "Worley."

" _I'm stayin' put, Commander, just saying."_

She rolled her shoulders. "All right. Brandt and Worley go check it out. The rest of you, join Shieldmaiden on the roof. Curen, I need you to provide support for Worley and Brandt first, then the rest of the team."

" _Right."_

She watched the squad break up in good order. When she saw that they kept a reasonable space between them she smiled a little to herself. A quiet sound from Valley drew her attention. The Commander just turned to look at him.

Valley squirmed a bit under her gaze. "Should you break them up like that?"

Central looked up from the display he'd been studying with a slightly panicked look on his face. No one told her what to do in her Mission Control.

Now she was more than annoyed, but she managed to remain calm. "Get him off my ship."

A couple of the staff smiled as they came up to either side of Valley to "escort" him out.

Van turned her attention back to the display just in time to hear Brandt subvocalized message. _"Got a patrol."_

"How many?"

" _Two. Viper and a trooper."_

"Think you can take them out quickly?"

" _Oh yeah._ " She didn't have to see the man to know there was a huge grin on his face as he said that.

Worley just grunted.

Curen laconically commented. _"Got bead on trooper."_

"No, it'll alert the forces inside. Just be ready for the moment."

"' _K"_

The two men waited until their targets were between them before opening fire. Or rather Worley opened fire on the trooper while Brandt sliced at the viper. The trooper went down, but the viper was still alive. Though badly bloodied, it rose up hissing then lunged at Brandt who managed to dodge the angry creature.

Shieldmaiden spoke up. _"The officer just sent another patrol out, but no alarms yet. Trooper, viper and sectoid."_

Watching Brandt and Worley deal with the viper, she nodded slightly. "Worley, you heard?"

" _Yeah, boss."_ He panted his reply as he dodged the viper. Brandt's strike had damaged its jaw and shoulder enough that it couldn't spit or use its weapon. The nearest reinforcements were in the warehouse, so it had to get through the two men. Though if it'd had been under her command, it would've retreated elsewhere. Or called for help. Then again, since the location was fairly remote from anything else, there may not have been anywhere else to retreat to.

Worley finally got a clean shot on the viper taking it out just as the newest patrol stepped out of the building.

Oh yes, one of those nights indeed.

"Brandt, Worley, company," she said as the patrol dove into cover. "The rest of Menace 1-5, you can come out of concealment. Try to lure the rest out of the building."

Shieldmaiden replied. _"We can do that."_

Curen fired her sniper rifle, taking out the sectoid.

The trooper yelled at the commotion and the viper looked around, its tongue flickering in and out. On a normal snake that was to be expected, but seeing it on something vaguely humanoid was just so very wrong and creepy. Then creepy became something awful as the tongue snapped out, grabbed Brandt from where he was crouched down, yanked the soldier back to the alien which then constricted around the man.

There was a quiet sound of disbelief off to her side from where Central was standing.

Van didn't allow herself the indulgence to be horrified. "Menace 1-5, take any measure to free Brandt."

A hail of bullets rained down on the aliens, taking out the trooper, but not its alien companion. More than likely out of concern of shooting their captured squadmate.

Shieldmaiden appeared seemingly out of nowhere, launching herself at the monstrosity, decapitating it in one blow. Brandt, gasping for breath, staggered free of the unwinding coils.

There was a guttural yell from the doorway as the officer emerged with the remaining sectoid and trooper.

Hause calmly announced as he dropped his grenade from his position on the roof into the midst of the aliens then threw himself backwards. _"Fire in the hole."_

The readouts on the display shivered with the blast.

Van scrubbed her face with both hands, not really wanting to see what kind of mess the explosion made of the warehouse and its valuable contents so she wouldn't start screaming imprecations over the comms. She'd never lost her cool at her soldiers when they were on an op before and she wasn't inclined to start now.

Even if it were tempting to do so.

There was silence in the entire room until Central cleared his throat. "Commander, the sensors aren't picking up any other hostiles in the area."

She finally dared to risk a look and gave a mental sigh of relief. The damage wasn't as bad as she expected. Granted that warehouse would need extensive repairs to be usable again, but that was ADVENT's problem. "You're clear, Menace 1-5. How is Brandt holding up?"

The soldier in question answered for himself. _"Just bruised, Commander. Nothing major."_

Central stepped up to her and said quietly. "Since the warehouse is in such an isolated area, we can bring in the Avenger to take on all of the cargo in there. The skyranger won't be able to hold a fraction of it."

Knowing how much supplies of any sort was needed, she nodded. "As long as you can make sure the Avenger won't get tracked, do it." She frowned at him before he moved away. "And I want to have a chat with you, Tygan and Shen about what you haven't told me about the alien forces."

He looked confused. "There wasn't anything in the database?"

What database? She hadn't found anything in all of her searching of the files she had access to.

"Give me a moment, Central." She returned to the squad. "Menace 1-5, Avenger is inbound to help load those supplies."

" _Good,"_ Shieldmaiden replied. _"Commander, there's more than electronics here. There's weapon parts too. I'm not sure what else is here, but it looks like the place was just recently stocked up."_

Her eyes met John's and they both grinned. Van could see him trying not to get too excited as he said, "This'll be a game changer for our troops, Commander."

Oh yes, definitely. Even if they couldn't use the weapons right away, Lily should be able to use them to figure out how to bypass the biometrics for their soldiers to use those weapons.

Central pulled out his tablet, entered some commands then made a satisfied sound. When she felt the Avenger lift off, she smiled. "Finally got the remote working then?"

"Yeah, Shen got it working late this afternoon while you were getting ready for tonight."

She couldn't help teasing him. "You can call it like it is. I was taking a nap."

He lowered his voice. "Sounds better when I say it like that so I get less shit from the kids when I need to take one."

Van quietly laughed.

John grinned back. "C'mon, Commander, let's get a refill on our coffee and maybe a snack."

She eyed him curiously as they strolled out of Mission Control toward the mess. "Why does everyone keep trying to feed me? XCOM has been the best weight loss program I've ever been on."

"Can I be bluntly honest?"

"When have you been anything else? And if I had a problem with that, I'd say so."

"You're too damn thin. I'll admit that my memory might be faulty, but I do remember that you dropped too much weight too quickly. From the look of things the aliens didn't do anything to help in the regard. And now that you're training with Kelly and Brandt, you need to start eating more protein. And not live on coffee."

It was so weird to keep hearing that from people. As soon as she was on her own, she started putting on a few too many extra pounds from being able to eat what she wanted when she wanted, which included her weakness for baked goods.

Then he smiled again. "Besides, I'm hungry and it's probably going to be a long night."

"Good point."

When they entered the mess, Lily was already eating at a table at the furthest end of the mess. She waved them over once they collected their trays, along with a carafe of coffee. The engineer smiled as they sat down. "Hey Vanessa, Bradford. Looks like you did another great job."

"Thank you, but it's really our soldiers you should be giving the compliments to." It was already a tired argument, but one she was going to keep making. She shrugged. "Anyway, what was this database you mentioned earlier? Though judging by your reaction to the tongue grab by the snaky Rule 34 bait tells me that it might not have all the details."

John had been in the midst of taking a drink from his mug when she made her comment causing him to choke. Handing him some napkins to help clean up as he coughed and sputtered, Van said ruefully. "Sorry about that."

He waved her off with a smile.

Lily chuckled. "Rule 34. I haven't heard that term in a long time. The internet isn't quite what you remember it as, but if it were the vipers probably would be one of the top ten subjects for that rule."

Van nodded. "Anyway, this database?"

"Let me look into that, Vanessa," Lily said as she started to look through something on her tablet. "I could have sworn that we made sure to give you access to everything."

Letting the engineer do her thing, Van ate some of the oddly spiced, but tasty, pork stew that had been part of dinner and had been left to continue simmering for those who would be working through the night.

Her tablet beeped and Lily smiled. "There. You should be all set now. For some reason a couple of the flags got reset."

She put her spoon down in the bowl to scroll through what was there. "Who is in charge of updating it?"

"Usually Shen or Tygan," John answered. "Though I do it if they don't have the opportunity. Though obviously you're now on the list."

"All right." She tried not to frown, there really wasn't much there. Mainly on the ADVENT equipment, since that seemed to differentiate the troopers from each other. Rumors about other mechanized units besides the sectopods that she remembered laying waste to Earth's mechanized cavalry units.

The gene modded sectoids were in there, as were the vipers. With the changes in what used to be the thin men was another rumor that there was a replacement, but no confirmation or even a hint as to what that replacement was.

"I know I'm going to sound ungrateful," she began.

John and Lily exchanged looks and Lily replied. "Our information is pretty sparse. Thing is, up until recently we've faced mainly ADVENT, not many of the actual aliens. Since you've rejoined us, there's definitely been more appearance of the non-human troops."

She thought that over combined with some of the historical records and the three missions she'd overseen in the past couple of weeks. "Then there's the fact the ADVENT forces we've been facing seem not as sharp. They aren't stupid, but they don't react to things the way they have in past reports. They also haven't raided any of the Resistance hideouts either."

There was a very disquieting thought growing based on that information combined with what Tygan had said about the damn chip.

John nodded to her comment. "They have been acting somewhat off from what I'm used to seeing."

"Like that officer and trooper standing in the doorway like they were with the sectoid? To be honest, I'm not surprised with the sectoid, they never seemed that bright the first time around."

The other two at the table laughed, then Lily leaned forward with an intense look on her face. "So what's this I hear about weapon parts?"

"Apparently there's crates of assorted weapons parts. No real details yet, so don't get your hopes up."

The other woman's eyes gleamed. "If there's even one piece with working biometrics I can finally crack it so our people can use their weapons in the future."

"Lily…" Van said warningly. She didn't want the engineer to get her hopes up.

That got her a slightly sheepish smile. "I know, I know. I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but the prospect of a warehouse full of new tech just got me excited."

God, Lily was so much like her dad it hurt. He'd had the same reaction to whatever new piece of tech the fireteams would bring in for him and Vahlen to analyze. Trying not to let that on, she just smiled at the enthusiasm.

A half hour later the Avenger arrived at the warehouse and the first down the ramp was Lily, Van and John trailing after her at a more sedate pace. It felt a little awkward to be walking around with a sword slung over her shoulder and a shotgun at her side with body armor under her heavy coat. The whole getup was uncomfortably warm and heavy, but she acceded to the concerns of pretty much everyone.

If the Commander was going to go walking around in potentially hostile territory, she was going to be properly protected as well as being able to protect herself.

Even if she was going to roast from being bundled up since it wasn't as cold as it was around Resistance HQ.

Shieldmaiden was waiting for her at the bottom of the ramp. "Commander, Cyber and Bird Dog have already complied a rough list of the contents of the warehouse."

Not familiar with either of the nicknames, Van looked at her curiously. The ranger said, "Sorry, ma'am. Hause is Cyber because of how excited he got over some of those electronics. Worley is Bird Dog, because, well, if someone is going to flush trouble out of nowhere, it's going to be him."

"Very true, Shieldmaiden." It was something Van had noticed about the combat hacker. Even in training he tended to be the one to flush out hidden enemies.

"I better get back to watching the kids, ma'am, so they don't get into trouble." Shieldmaiden nodded to the two of them before heading back into the warehouse. The two stood to the side to stay out of the way of those heading into and out of the warehouse to load the newly acquired supplies on the Avenger.

Just as Van started to skim through the manifest she'd been given, she heard a loud, delighted squeal from the warehouse.

Bradford smiled slightly. "Sounds like Shen."

"Yeah, I guess those weapon parts are what she was hoping for after all."

The light that shone in his eyes made her heart skip a beat as he commented. "Now our people will stand a better chance against the aliens in the field."

She nodded. He glanced at her. "And now that Tygan's finished his study into what gene therapy had been done on you, we'll be able to help them physically as well. At least in small ways."

Vanessa was still of two minds on that. There'd definitely been more than just "cleaning out the disease bearing genes" on her. Technically she was still human, but some of the changes were on the border of being…something else. At least there wasn't any alien DNA. More importantly, what they could adapt would improve healing times for the troops as Tygan had initially hoped.

All she could say was, "Yeah, there is that."

"Hey." The way he said that caused her to look at him. "Van, you're still you. If you start acting oddly, I will say something. And don't apologize for leaning on me. I may not look it, but I'm strong enough for it."

She smiled and patted his bicep, though she doubted he felt it under the heavy parka. "My knight."

"Damn straight. Now let's go into the warehouse and make sure that our chief engineer hasn't expired from over excitement."

"And you want to get out of the cold."

His lips twitched slightly. "The thought might have occurred to me."

Feeling at ease again, Van walked along with John into the slightly warmer environs of the warehouse. Just in time to witness two specialists and a chief engineer almost explode in delight at whatever electronic thing they just unearthed.

There were moments she hated being part of XCOM, but this wasn't one of them. Quite the opposite in fact.


	16. Chapter 16

_**February 15, 2035**_

 _ **06:35 Oral Time Zone**_

 _ **Kazakhstan countryside**_

 _"Commander, we have a visual on the objective. It should be coming up on your screen now," Shield maiden reported._

Van regarded the scene before her. Looming over the area was a massive black building with the ADVENT symbol boldly displayed front and center. In front of the building was a large cement pad mostly covered by odd looking containers. Clearly of alien origin, they were almost coffin sized and shaped with an unnerving green glow.

"Are those stasis pods?" Lily asked. The engineer had decided to observe the mission to see how well the jailbroken weapons were working for the troops. Given how quickly they had taken out a patrol of two vipers with a sectoid, then a couple more of just ADVENT troopers, the weapons were proving quite effective. Since her initial concern was satisfied, Lily turned her focus on the odd containers.

They did look vaguely like the ones from "her time", but Van wasn't exactly positive.

Central replied. "Yeah, they do look like stasis pods. And look here," he gestured at the bottom half of the screen where train tracks ended at the pad. "This must be where the trains end. At least for this zone."

Since the area was still quiet, Van took the opportunity to think the situation over. Dreading what they were going to find, but unable to resist the need to see if they could rescue people, Van said, "Shieldmaiden, setup sentries while Bird Dog and Cyber crack open one of those pods."

" _No problem, boss."_

She muted the mic and spoke to the other observer who was standing off to the side. "Doctor, you don't mind providing advice if anything should come up that they can't handle?"

"Of course not."

"Thank you." She turned her mic back on as she returned her attention back to the display.

Central stepped up next to her as Brandt and Defcon assisted the two specialists in repositioning a pod while Curen and Shieldmaiden took up guard duty. He quietly asked. "Are you sure this is wise?"

Her response was just as quiet after muting her mic again. "Wise? Of course not. None of this is _wise_. I do remember the horrors that were found during the invasion, but sometimes then we got lucky. So I want to see if there's a chance for that now."

He blew out his breath. "Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you knew what kind of risk this was. It's more likely than not that those people in those pods might not be…recoverable."

Bile was already burning its bitter way up her throat at the thought. "I know. It's a foolish idea, but I'm hoping that maybe they haven't done too much to them yet… Or some of them."

"Yeah," he sighed.

Cyber said, " _Okay, we're ready, Commander."_

Remembering to turn the mic back on, she replied. "Go for it."

Defcon and Brandt stepped back from the pod, their weapons at the ready in case whatever was inside was hostile and able to act on it. The lid opened with a hiss and a virulent green mist oozed over the sides. The two men backed away coughing and gagging.

Hoping she didn't cause two of her soldiers to possibly be poisoned, Van asked. "Are the two of you okay?"

" _Yeah,"_ Bird dog gasped out. _"Man, that shit reeks."_

" _Still breathing, boss,"_ Cyber replied. He spat to the side. _"Want us to try a different one? I think this pod failed because whatever poor soul was in there must've been dead and rotting in there for some time judging by the smell."_

Something stirred within the pod accompanied by the sound of liquid sloshing. A hand, if it could be called that, consisting of two fleshy fingers opposite a thumb reached blindly out before latching onto the side. There was a faint gurgle and a distorted human head emerged. She couldn't tell if the figure was male or female as its mouth opened and a raspy voice begged. _"Kill me."_

There was a quiet sound of distress from Lily. Tygan and John both stared at the sight with mute horror. There were similar reactions throughout the room.

Mentally squashing down her own reaction, Van whispered. "Do it."

A quick burst from Cyber's assault rifle ended the poor wretch's torment. In that moment her horror changed to something colder. "Defcon, how many X-4 charges do you have on you?"

" _What makes you think I have any with me, ma'am?"_

"Because I know how you think."

The grenadier gave her a toothy grin through the sensors. _"Fine, fine. I've got three with me."_

Central said very quietly. "Fuck. Just one could level the place."

It wasn't surprising that Defcon had that many on her, all of the heavy weapons' soldiers she'd known had a love of things that exploded. When she factored in what she knew of this particular trooper's background, it was even less surprising. "Good. Once the squad has scoured the site for all information, I want you to turn that place into a crater."

Defcon gleefully replied. _"_ _ **Yes**_ _, ma'am! I'll set the first charge now?"_

"Please."

She glanced at Central who nodded grimly, then Lily caught her eye and gave her a sad smile. Tygan turned away from the display to face her. The scientist was hard to read, but he did say, "Thank you, Commander."

Van nodded to her chief scientist. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking or feeling. While he did have a history of working for places that would have brought him a lucrative living, something Van couldn't blame him for wanting at all, she also knew that he held a great deal of respect for what science could do to better humanity. Seeing what the aliens were doing was likely to be the stuff of nightmares for him. Well, it could be nightmares for everyone else, but this would be very personal to him.

It didn't take long for Defcon to get the charge setup to her satisfaction. Shieldmaiden commented. _"Proceeding to the main objective."_

"Good." Van watched the squad advance on the building, wary that there hadn't been any further patrols. While Brandt had been her main instructor for her ranger training, she found that she often ended up training the troops in what she wanted them to do in certain situations. Granted it had been only a week and a half, but she was pleased to see that they were applying the things she'd shown them. Especially since they were not bunching up like they had on the last mission.

Just as they got to the main door of the facility, Van heard an odd mechanical squealing sound. Before she could say anything, Bird dog tilted his head to the side and asked. _"What's that?"_

Of course he'd be the one to react to anything unusual.

Lily said hesitantly. "It sounds almost like a sectopod, but there'd be more of a disturbance if it was."

"Be careful, Menace 1-5, that might be one of the ADVENT mechs."

" _Roger, Commander."_ Shieldmaiden quietly issued commands on how to enter the facility that had Van nodding silently in agreement, then she silently swarmed up the wall to the roof to scout up top. She made an almost inaudible sound of distress as she peered into skylight on the top of the roof. _"Squad, stay in position. Commander…you need to see this."_

The soldier adjusted the feed so they could clearly see the interior. Van covered her mouth with one hand to keep from crying out at what she saw.

A massive chamber containing an unknown apparatus holding tubes filled with faintly glowing green liquid surrounding the tortured forms of humans. The tubes looked suspiciously like a part of the stasis pods on the outside. The machine lowered the tubes down into a large pool filled with a similar liquid which in turn appeared to be piped into a smaller chamber beyond.

The compartment had a high tech pillar that at its center held a tube filled with liquid, this one the color of honey in sunlight.

Tygan shuddered, then said with dismay. "So many victims, processed with such brutal efficiency. Test subjects for some sort of weapon perhaps?"

It didn't seem like weapons testing to Van. If anything, it reminded her more of a cannery or something similar. Lily shook her head. "It looks more like a refinery to me, Doctor."

"We'll know for certain once we get that sample," Central said a little harshly. She felt more than saw John look at her, then he lightly touched the back of the hand at her side that she'd clenched into a trembling fist. The hand eased open at his touch and he gently wrapped his hand around hers. Maybe it was highly improper, but right at that moment she needed the comfort his touch brought her.

Once Van felt like she wouldn't vomit the moment she spoke, she said, "Good job. Now you know your target. Any sign of the mech?"

" _Not yet,"_ Shieldmaiden subvocalized, _"but I do see a turret at the other end of the roof. Looks like it's been set to fire on anyone approaching from the rear."_

John gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go as she stared at the display.

The Commander drew in a deep breath and let it out, there was something not right about this setup. The lack of patrols beyond the initial foray. What she could see of that large room looked perfect for an ambush for those entering through the main door. "Menace 1-5, don't go through that door. There's a smaller one on the western side of the building, go through that entrance."

They exchanged puzzled looks as they began to move to follow her orders with Shieldmaiden ghosting along the roof. Slinger glanced through a window on the way. _"See officer, two troopers hunkered down."_

" _I see them now,"_ Shieldmaiden agreed. _"Don't think they've seen us yet. Think there's something moving around in that green stuff and I don't think it's one of the victims."_

"Now you can enter the building, just don't use any grenades."

There were a few quiet snickers, then Defcon kicked in the door and rolled into cover behind a pillar that supported the ceiling. With a snarl on her lips, the grenadier let loose with her light machine gun on the officer, pinning him into place.

Brandt smashed in a window to take out the officer with a well-placed shotgun blast while Curen shot out another nearby window with her sniper rifle as she took out one of the troopers. Bird dog took advantage of the openings to fire on the remaining trooper. Shieldmaiden leapt through the skylight to land on the enemy soldier and rolled into cover with her gun at the ready.

In the fading echoes of the gunfire, Van realized how tightly clumped up the soldiers were. With no little desperation she shouted, "Spread out!"

Her warning came too late as the mech rose from the green glowing pool with a metallic shriek. The dripping liquid didn't mar the white paint on the robotic humanoid as the faceless head swiveled in the direction of where Bird dog, Brandt and Curen were crouched. It hunched down and with a deep _THWMP_ a projectile flew out of the launcher on its back.

The display went blank.

Van inhaled sharply, mind spinning in circles. She'd never lost an entire team before this. Lily went into a flurry of motion at a nearby terminal.

The display came back up and fortunately her soldiers were still alive, though some of them were rather badly singed. Defcon was already in the process of firing on the mech, shredding its armor to make it easier for the rest of the team to damage it.

The robot proved to be tougher and more agile than expected as it dodged for cover from the rest of the squad.

At least the clumped up troopers had put more space between them. "Curen, if you move up and to your right, you should get a good shot at the mech."

While Curen maneuvered about, the mech fired at Shieldmaiden who had sought cover behind a console. Its shot missed her by a wide margin and narrowly missed Cyber. He commented. _"Whoa, that was a little close for comfort."_

Curen's sniper rifle barked and the mech went down with the crackle of damaged electronics.

Van heaved a silent sigh of relief. "Good job, everyone. Someone disable that turret before getting the package so Firebrand has a clear landing site." She was fairly certain there was going to be all sorts of alarms going off.

It didn't take Bird Dog and Cyber long to disable the turret with their gremlins while Defcon planted the last of her charges. Then the three helped Curen and Brandt to setup a secure evac zone, leaving it to Shieldmaiden to retrieve the unknown material.

"Guessing that's not water in there," Central said as he regarded the glowing substance dubiously.

Van nodded her agreement. "Chief, are the sensors picking anything up?"

Lily looked over the readings with a frown. "No signs of radioactivity, no significant energy signatures of any kind." She shook her head slightly. "Whatever it is…it's safe to handle."

Shieldmaiden reached out to carefully grab the sample then ran for all she was worth to the evac zone.

Central had moved over to one of the terminals and said, "Firebrand, you have multiple inbound hostiles."

" _No problem, Central. I have the package and the kids in the back. ETA, forty-five minutes."_

"Good," Van replied. She completely turned off her earpiece as she removed it. "I'm leaving this in your hands for now, Central."

She didn't wait for his acknowledgement before she hurried out of Mission Control and just barely got into the nearby coat closest sized bathroom just as she couldn't keep her nausea under control any longer. She fell to her knees before the toilet and puked up any thought of eating ever again. Once she was past dry retching she shakily got to her feet.

At the sink she splashed cold water on her face and sipped some to rinse out her mouth. That's when the tears started to fall. She'd seen some of the horrors of what they'd done in the past, but those experiments had been nothing compared to what had been seen that day.

Once she was sure she had herself under enough control, Van made her way to her quarters to finish getting herself back under control. Namely a quick shower and change of clothing. She'd sweated rather heavily during this particular mission, which had been bad enough, but combined with the stench of getting sick, she was feeling particularly disgusting.

Besides, it would be bad for morale for her people to see her in this state. Including her own.


	17. Chapter 17

_**February 15, 2035**_

 _ **16:00 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

"So any idea of what Tygan wants, Van?" John asked as they walked toward the research division.

She shook her head. "None. Just that he needed to speak with us about something. Since it's too soon about the…stuff that was brought back from that black site, I'm guessing he's finally made headway on that chip in the officer's head."

He gave her a sideways glance. "Going to be okay?"

The nausea from that morning had come back with a vengeance. It felt like her stomach was trying to chew its way out. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I'll live."

I think, she added on mentally.

John frowned at her as if he could hear her thoughts. She shrugged in return. "Probably best not to keep Tygan waiting."

He studied her a bit longer before nodding and turning to the door which opened as soon as he got near it. Van trailed behind him, reluctant to learn what Tygan had found out.

The doctor nodded a greeting. "Bradford." He peered over John's shoulder. "Ah, Vanessa, there you are. Thank you both for coming here so soon."

"Of course," Van replied. "It sounded urgent. So what's going on?"

"First, with the sample that the team recovered from the black site this morning can't be analyzed with our current facilities. I've already discussed with the requirements with Shen and she's worked out plans on how to construct it."

The way he said that made her nervous. "What's the matter?"

"It'll tap into the aliens' psionic network, which I'll explain in a moment, when I go over my other findings."

She exchanged confused looks with John. "I take it there's some sort of risk involved?"

"No more than anything else, we'll be shielding the chamber the way I did with the chip. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation."

"Okay. So the next thing to discuss was the chip in the officer's head?"

"Yes, if you'll come this way please." Tygan led them into another room that she didn't remember being in before, yet it seemed oddly familiar. Before them was a metal table with a corpse on the table that had a cable plugged into the back of its head. She didn't have to see the strange rabbit-like face to know it was the ADVENT officer that Tygan had been poking and prodding.

There was something about the light hanging over the table so she tilted her head to see if she could jog her memory, then she recognized the room. This was where Tygan had removed that damn chip, and other implants, out of her head.

Wonderful. The place that he did major brain surgery on her was the same place he was dissecting alien corpses to see what made them tick.

Bradford looked down at the cadaver and commented. "I take it this was easier than your last procedure?"

Tygan nodded. "Quite. I find the process far less disturbing when the subject is already expired."

Van glared them both. "I am right here, you know."

At least they had the grace to look chagrined. Tygan said, "My apologies, Vanessa. I didn't mean to upset you."

The tone he used with his apology had her eyeing him warily. "It sounds like what you found in your research was somewhat disturbing."

"Yes, the results…" He hesitated, as if he needed to think about how he was going to phrase his response. "It's best you see for yourself."

The doctor tapped a button on the main monitor where the too familiar image of "her" chip popped up next to another. The new image had the similar "house key shape", but the spikes were above the teeth of the "key". He squared his shoulders. "My autopsy of the ADVENT Captain has confirmed the existence of an implant similar in design to the unit I extracted from Vanessa. But there are differences."

Van let Bradford ask the obvious question because Tygan's attitude had her gut clenching up with fear. "What kind of differences?"

Columns of alphanumeric data began to stream under the image of the ADVENT chip. "The data you see is being pulled directly from this ADVENT Captain's implant." He paused again, then gestured to the data streaming on the screen. "The sequence here… Is essentially you, Vanessa. Or at least the tactical information they were processing through your mind. As you can see, the data is nearly identical."

John whispered in dismay. "No wonder we couldn't make any headway. They were using you against us all this time."

Disregarding the corpse on the table, Van leaned on the edge of it with her head lower than her shoulders as she felt the blood drain from her head and it felt like a clawed hand was squeezing her lungs. Oh god, this was so much worse than she thought. As she tried to remind her body how to breathe, Van was grateful she hadn't eaten anything since that morning. If she had, she probably would've spewed the contents of her stomach all over the clean, shiny lab.

"Vanessa?" Tygan asked worriedly.

Somehow she managed to hold up a hand, somehow managed to make herself talk despite the lump in her throat. "Just…give me a moment."

John gently gripped her shoulder and quietly asked. "Van? Is there anything I can do?"

Only if he could roll back time by twenty years. "Not really, but thank you."

It took a bit of effort to straighten back up. "Sorry about that, Tygan, I'm sure there's more."

"No need to apologize, I can imagine how distressing this must be for you. However, there is some good news."

She highly doubted it. "In what way?"

"The ADVENT data shows signs of decay. Removing you from their network has likely caused significant damage."

"Network. The one you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes. What we are seeing here is a psionic network. These implants are capable of receiving and transmitting information. A _great deal_ of information. Somehow encoded in a stream of psionic energy."

He tapped the image of "her" chip on the display causing it to shrink down to a smaller icon, then lines streamed from it to images of various ADVENT soldiers in a kind of pyramid formation. "My working theory – ADVENT uses this network to augment the tactical readiness of its troops as well as disseminate orders from its Central Command. Observe."

Tygan pressed one of the images on the screen causing the corpse on the table to spasm. She and John both stepped back in shock, though he looked grim. Van could only imagine what she must look like. The doctor continued. "Even in the subject's… diminished condition, the implant continues to have an effect. A truly astonishing achievement."

John studied the dead officer and said thoughtfully. "Or a weakness."

"Potentially, but I'd need direct access to their network to know for sure."

Bradford shifted his gaze from the corpse to Van, his eyes dark with concern. "I'm guessing that won't be easy."

"We'd need an active link. And that would mean hacking a live ADVENT officer." Even Tygan seemed a little nonplussed by his own suggestion.

The lines on Bradford's face deepened as he grimly said, "Like I said, not easy. It's your call, Vanessa."

Overcoming this latest living nightmare, she said firmly. "No live captures."

"Ah, that won't be necessary, it can be done in the field with a device that can only be called a Skulljack."

That didn't sound much better than a live capture. "I'm going to assume by the name they have to get up close and personal?"

"I wouldn't have put it that way, but yes. This requires close proximity because the operator has to physically access the implants in the skull. Unfortunately, a gremlin can't be used since the approach it has to take would leave it vulnerable to attack."

"I…see." She rubbed her temples from the stress headache that was starting to form. Everything from that day was all too much for her to bear and an odd kind of numbness settled on body and mind. "When you said I was in there, Tygan… How much of me is still in there?"

He shook his head. "There is no 'you' in the network, only the rapidly decaying data. I'm sure they have some sort of backup in place in case something happened to you. The aliens seem disinclined to using sentient artificial intelligence so I highly doubt they have a copy of what makes you the person that you are."

Was he truly that blind? "You don't understand, Doctor. They had me in that network for twenty years. It means they know _me_. How much do they have of my memories? They know I think and how I react to things. We still don't know if there's any ticking time bombs lurking in my head. Now that we know about this network..."

Tygan raised a hand in attempt to reassure her. '"I swear, there's no way for them get access to you through that network without those implants."

"Please believe him, Vanessa," John said soothingly. "He would have found anything off by now. Besides we've already seen the effects of removing you from their network. The ADVENT troops have shown a marked decrease in performance."

Despair washed over her at the way they were disregarding her fears, leaving her drained of any energy to argue. Her shoulders slumped. "I need some time to think about this. Doctor Tygan coordinate with Central and Chief Engineer Shen for what you need. I'll be in my quarters if anything urgent comes up."

Ignoring the way Central reached out to her or the way the doctor opened his mouth to say something, the Commander spun on a heel and briskly left the Research division. She was trying to unsuccessfully outrun the insidious whispers in her mind.

 _Twenty years as the unknowing military leader for the aliens. Plugged into some vast psionic network. Gene therapy to withstand everything. Enormous psionic potential._

It was all too much for her to bear. Instead of going to her quarters she took long detour for some liquid anesthetic. In the end she was her parents' child after all.


	18. Chapter 18

_**February 15, 2035**_

 _ **16:15 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

The brief flash of hurt in Van's expression before she shut down made Bradford instantly regret how this whole conversation had been handled. He hadn't meant to sound dismissive of her concerns when he tried to reassure her. He did briefly debate following right after her, but figured it would be better to give her the space she asked for.

"You're not going after her?" Tygan asked in a carefully neutral voice, though he regarded Bradford with worried eyes.

He ran a hand over his face. "No. Going to give her the time she asked for. So why don't we go over what you need for this skulljack and special chamber of yours."

What he wanted to call the jack was a skullfucker, but that was grossly unprofessional. Plus he didn't want to see how the troops would run with that comment.

"The skulljack is the easiest part, I just need to send the specifications to Shen for her team to manufacture. The shadow chamber is going to require some specialized materials, but they can also be made by Shen's people, so it'll probably add to the building time."

Bradford's comms beeped letting him know that someone was trying to get in contact. "Give me one moment, Doctor."

At the man's nod, he stepped away and tapped the earpiece. "Bradford."

Cyber came on, sounding worried. _"Central, this is Cyber. There might be a situation you should be aware of."_

His gut clenched. If the normally laid back man was sounded worried then whatever the situation was couldn't be good. "What is it, Cyber?"

 _"I normally don't butt into a boss's business, but this time I'm making an exception."_

"Get to the point," he growled.

 _"Commander Mckenzie doesn't strike me as the drinking type and she went into the bar to get a botttle of the strongest rotgut Frank's got in stock."_

Ice went down his spine. He knew that Van avoided alcohol and drugs, even over the counter painkillers, because of her family's history. That she felt the need to get drunk was an indicator of how bad off she was.

"Thanks, Cyber. Just don't spread it around."

" _Of course not. Keepin' guard on her in her quarters just in case."_

"Thought's appreciated, but probably not a good idea. She might get suspicious of someone hanging around like that."

" _She'd get suspicious if there wasn't someone keeping an eye on her."_

What the hell? He'd get answers about that later. "I'll be there shortly."

He returned to Tygan who looked up from whatever he was studying. "Is there anything I can help with, Bradford?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you know if there is. You'll have to forward the details for me to review later."

"Of course. I'll send the requirements to Shen as well."

"Thanks."

Bradford desperately wanted to run, but two things stopped him from moving any faster than a brisk walk. It would have looked odd to see him running when there wasn't an emergency going on and quite frankly his bad leg made it difficult. At least it didn't take very long to get to Van's quarters where Cyber was lounging against the wall to the left of the door.

The tablet in the combat medic's hands made Bradford a little nervous. "Please tell me you're not spying on her."

"Nope, just monitoring her life signs. So far they're still normal." He gestured to the vent above the door where Cyber's gremlin had attached itself.

"You will remove your gremlin when I go in."

"Of course. Shield made it quite clear that if the Commander had a private meeting we were to make ourselves scarce."

Well, at least now he knew who to have a…conversation with about putting Van under surveillance. Odd that she didn't try to shake them the way she had under the original XCOM.

Worried about what he was going to see, he knocked at the door. There was no response. He looked over his shoulder to Cyber. The other man shrugged. "She's still in there and still fine."

Bradford knocked again. "Commander. It's Central. We need to talk."

There was still no response, which made him grit his teeth as he used the override built into the system to give him access to her quarters. He'd never foreseen this kind of situation to warrant the need to use such a gross violation of her privacy.

When the door opened, he didn't see her right away so he stepped inside the room. That's when he saw her. Van was on the floor, slumped against the footboard of her bed with the half empty bottle of booze at her left hand with her right hand holding a pistol on him. Her face was blank of all expression, but the hand was rock steady.

He held up his hands as the door whooshed shut behind him.

There was no hint of slur or the careful enunciation of the inebriated when she coldly said, "Get out. Now."

"Can't do that, Van. It's my turn to insist on a talk."

She stared him for a long moment and he wondered if she'd taken something with the alcohol or if it was having an odd effect on her system due to the alterations done to her. Finally she clicked the safety back on and very carefully set it off to the side where it wasn't pointing at either of them. Van took a swig from the bottle before asking. "Just what did you want to talk about?"

The lack of emotion in her face and voice caused his worry to grow. "To start with, I know from personal experience that alcohol isn't going to do anything to help."

Van held up the bottle and studied it, shrugged listlessly before capping it and setting it to the side. "Might as well be drinking water for all the effect it's had on me. So you don't have to worry about me following my folk's footsteps after all. So if that's what caused you to barge in here, you can leave."

He didn't try to hide his wince at the implied bitterness her words held. "That's not all of it."

"If it's about Tygan's ideas, they can wait until morning."

Taking a chance, he cautiously walked near her to sit down in the computer chair so he wouldn't loom over her. If he sat down on the floor he wasn't sure he'd be able to get back up. Those frighteningly blank grey eyes watched him, but she didn't tell him to leave. Bracing his forearms against his thighs, with his hands on his knees he leaned forward. "Van, I'm not here to talk about Tygan or his research. Except for maybe how they affected you a little while ago."

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the footboard. "Why? It's not like you're going to really listen."

That hurt a lot. "Now that's uncalled for –"

"Is it?" she asked cutting him off. Now she looked up at him, the corners of her eyes and mouth pulling down as her voice cracked with the emotions she'd been suppressing. "Every time I bring up a concern you're quick to reassure me that everything is just fine. That I'm the person you remember me being, but it's been twenty fucking years, Central Officer Bradford. You need to take those damn rose colored glasses of yours off. You only knew me for three months, there's no way you have gotten to know me that well during that time."

There was so much pain in her voice. "Yes, it was twenty years, but when people work under the circumstances we were under, you get to know a person pretty well with that kind of pressure." Because his back was protesting the position he was in, he leaned back in the chair, never taking his eyes off Van. "Besides, I knew of you before you came on board. After all, it was my job to organize XCOM. Including the person who would be best to lead it."

She looked away and nodded slightly. He rubbed the back of his head. "Van, I'm not trying to downplay your concern. I'm just trying to explain why I know you as well as I do."

He gave her a chance to reply, but when she still stayed quiet, he sighed. "Talk to me, Van. Want to help you, but can't if you won't tell me what's wrong."

"Wrong?" she asked with a bitter laugh that made his chest ache. "Everything. Everything is wrong. They've taken everything from me. My life. Which may not have been the most amazing thing ever, or lived up to my supposed potential, but it was _mine_. I was _happy_ and could actually dream about what I wanted in the future."

When she lapsed into silence again, he didn't say anything as he thought hard about what she was saying. "I don't begrudge being brought into XCOM, or even ending up as its Commander considering I was pretty much training for that for five years. I truly meant it when I thanked you for rescuing me. But –"

She held her hands up in front of her to study them. "This body isn't mine. I'm able to run a mile in four minutes, something that shouldn't be possible for a woman of my apparent physical age. Certainly not for my poor shape prior to my capture. The way I've been picking up the training that Kelly and Brandt have been giving me. I was that stereotypical kid that was always picked last for team sports." Her hands fluttered to her face and her voice dropped into a hoarse whisper. "I look in the mirror and the face is mine, but not. I never had any illusions about my lack of looks, but now… Now it's like someone photoshopped my appearance to be more attractive."

Bradford had always thought she was a beautiful woman, especially when she smiled, but knew that wasn't the time to say so.

"But they didn't just take body, they took my mind too. The thing I valued the most because that was my greatest asset. At this point the psionic potential that I shouldn't have doesn't bother me as much. They had me for twenty years, John. _Twenty years!_ They clearly used me against the world. Against the very people I swore to protect. God knows what else they used me for." She finally looked up at him and the despair in her gaze almost undid him. "This body is alive. But the woman I was, Vanessa McKenzie, I don't think she still exists. I'm just the remnants that don't have the good grace to just let go of this mockery of life. Hell, I don't even know if this is real or not."

She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees before she began to cry. It wasn't the kind of sobbing he'd expect from someone caught up in the anguish she'd expressed. No, it was so much worse. All he heard were soft mewling sounds of an animal dying slowly in a trap.

Despite his body feeling like it was suddenly made out of lead, Bradford forced himself to his feet to go over to Van. Ignoring the protests of his bad leg, and hoping she wouldn't try to kill him for what he was about to do, Bradford squatted down long enough to scoop her up. At least she wasn't as bony as she had been, so she wasn't just living off coffee and determination anymore.

Grateful that his leg wasn't kicking up too much a fuss, Bradford carried Van to one of the nearby couches. His breath hissed out a bit as he managed to settle down on the couch while still holding her, afraid if he let go he'd lose her somehow. He was even more grateful when she stopped making those distressing sounds as she curled up in his lap with her legs against the side of his and her face pressed into his shoulder. Holding her as tightly as he dared, he gently stroked her hair. "As awful as it might be right now, this is real. You're real. I'm real. Don't give up, sweetheart. Stay with me. Together we'll find a way of taking everything back that those bastards stole."

She nodded slightly, but didn't say anything else. When she slid her arms around him to hold onto him, he felt some measure of relief. After a few minutes, she gave a soft sigh and relaxed. It took a bit for him to realize she'd fallen asleep. He wasn't surprised, it'd been a long day for her. It wasn't the alcohol since he didn't catch the faintest whiff of it on her breath.

Since Bradford wasn't entirely sure how to get up without disturbing Van, he sat there for a time to think over the situation. He wished he had some way of getting her some sort of professional help, he didn't dare because the can of worms that would open would be massive. He'd keep his ears open just in case. In the meantime he'd do what he could for her.

That resolved, he gently shifted the sleeping woman from his lap to his side on the couch. As much as he'd like to stay with her, there were things he needed to see to. But before he left, there were a few things he wanted to take care of.

Such as making sure the pistol and alcohol were properly taken care of. The weapon went into the small gun safe that was kept in one of the desk drawers. The booze got poured down the sink of the bathroom. The smell of it had him grimacing in disgust. Even at his worst he'd never would have tried drinking that shit. It gave him a better idea of how bad of a state she'd been in if she'd been able to guzzle the stuff down like she did.

Once those small matters were taken care of, he went to check on Van, who had curled up on the couch while he'd been busy. Bradford stood there watching her for a moment as he debated over moving her to her bed or not. Figuring that moving her again would wake her, he decided to leave her where she was. Instead he gently eased her boots off, then grabbed a pillow and the light blanket off her bed.

As he carefully tucked the pillow under her head, Van stirred slightly and mumbled. "John?"

"It's me, sweetheart. Go back to sleep."

One eye cracked open slightly. "Called me sweetheart. Twice."

He mentally cursed himself out, he hadn't meant to let that slip. "Yeah, I guess I did."

The sleepy smile he got almost undid him as the other eye opened. "You're the sweetheart. Always taking care of me."

"It's my pleasure," he replied truthfully, as he carefully placed the blanket on her. "Get some rest, Van, you need it after today."

When he took a chance at tucking the blanket into place around her shoulders, she turned her head and lightly brushed her lips along his knuckles. "Thank you."

For a moment he couldn't move, stunned at her action even as some part of him reveled in it. Since he didn't move, she settled her cheek against his hand with a sound of contentment and her eyes started to droop closed again.

Hesitantly he cupped her cheek with his other hand which got him another of those lovely smiles even though she didn't reopen her eyes. He kept his voice low. "You're very welcome."

It wasn't until he was positive that she was asleep again before he pulled away his hands. For another long moment he watched over her then resolutely left Van's quarters before he hovered over her for too long.

Cyber wasn't the only one outside of the room when Bradford emerged through the door, Shieldmaiden was with him. "Cyber, keep guard for now. Shieldmaiden, let's walk and talk."

"Yes, sir!" they said in unison.

The combat medical resumed his seemingly nonchalant lounging as they started to walk away, but he was clearly alert for any trouble.

Shieldmaiden cut to the heart of the matter. "You want to talk to me about putting the Commander under guard."

"Something like that."

She scanned the area from under the bill of the eternally worn ballcap, satisfied there was no one else around, she said, "Central, you may have been positive that she was who you thought she was, but I wasn't sure. And quite frankly most of the others weren't either. Especially after knowing she'd been in the aliens' hands, claws, tentacles, whatever, for twenty years. Then seeing the Doc dig that shit out of her head and that she survived it didn't help."

No wonder the ranger got on so well with Van, both of them were equally paranoid. Rationally, he knew that he should have been the same, but the less rational side of him had kept overruling everything else. "What changed your mind?"

"A lot. Namely that first op to retrieve that convert thing for the Chief. Her request, not an order, for training to protect herself. The Commander's honesty to me about the 'therapy' done on her."

The last part he didn't expect. "You are keeping that to yourself."

"Of course. Though most of the troops are wondering considering what she's been doing in training."

"Hope that isn't an issue."

"Nah. If anything, they seem to have the opinion that if the aliens did something to her, it's only right that she'll be using it against them. Which leads me to an idea I have, but wanted to run it by you first." There was a small grin on the woman's face that meant trouble.

"What is it?"

"In a couple of weeks take the Commander out on an easy mission."

Central stopped dead in horror at the thought. "You're out of your mind."

Shieldmaiden removed her cap to glare at him. "No. Commander McKenzie needs to prove to herself that she has what it takes. Hell, we could probably take her on something like that shithole we went to this morning and do fine. Probably better than Brandt. But I don't want to put her at too much risk either."

"And prove herself to the troops?"

"Nope. She's already done that with the missions she's guided us through. And maybe after this morning the thick headed idiots won't clump up into grenade range anymore."

"That could have been much worse. If they armed the thing with their plasma grenades instead of the micro-missiles…"

She shuddered in response.

"As for your request, I'll think about it. Though I am curious about why you're asking me."

Settling her cap back into place, Shieldmaiden gave him an odd look. "Central, we all know how protective you are of the Commander, figured it'd be better to let you have a say before I ask her."

He just shook his head, not bothering to argue, but one corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Get out of here."

There was a flash of a smirk. "Yes, sir!"

The ranger may not have run, but she certainly made sure to move fast to get out of the area.

Bradford stood alone in the hall, mulling over the rather busy day and shook his head again. If it weren't for the anguish Van had been put through, the day would've been just a typical day for how strange his life had become.


	19. Chapter 19

_**February 20, 2035**_

 _ **16:45 Oral Time Zone**_

 _ **Kazakhstan Countryside**_

A brisk wind blew over the grassland that surrounded the small camp a local Resistance cell had setup to meet with XCOM. It may have been overly cold for her security detail, but for Van it felt good. No, it felt great. As if it were scouring out the last of the cobwebs that had been clogging her mind.

It still felt strange to be wearing ballistic armor strapped over her jumpsuit along with a sword and shotgun at her back beside her pistol in her thigh holster. Fortunately, their hosts were as heavily armed.

The cell was comprised mainly of members of the same Kazakh tribe, but some were refugees from other parts of the area. Including the incredibly cheerful Russian man named Pyotr who was acting as their translator when it was needed.

Van watched as Lily put the finishing touches on the portable comms system the chief engineer's team had come up with. The original proposal had been for stationary towers, but Van had overruled that on the basis it would make it easier to track. Lily stepped back and gestured at the unit as she said to the roughhewn leader of the group. "All yours, Timur."

The man looked over the console and nodded slightly, then reached out to hit the power button, then briskly tapped in the code to contact the Avenger. John's image popped up on the screen and he gave the crowd a fierce grin. "Welcome to the fight."

Timur returned the grin revealing very bright white teeth against wind burnt skin. "It is good to be in regular contact with allies."

"That's the intention. Now if you don't mind trying Resistance HQ."

"Of course. Akhmetov out." He entered another code and the screen changed over to Valley.

His black eyes gleamed. "Timur! It's good to finally speak to you again."

Of course they knew each other. It seemed like Valley did know everyone in the Resistance.

"Valley, you need to leave that frozen wasteland at some point."

"You're a fine one to talk about frozen wastelands considering where you live. Though maybe one of these days. I'll say this was a successful test."

"Indeed. Have a good evening, my friend."

After putting the system into its standby mode, the Resistance cell leader turned to her. "Vanessa, what you have done for us has been a real blessing. Not just with the communications either."

Besides setting up the new system, Lily's people had helped repair, or upgrade, what tech they had and Tygan had been willing to check out their health. "My pleasure, but it's my people who should be thanked."

That got her another bright smile. "Indeed! That's why we're going to feast to celebrate."

"Thank you. I hope you won't be offended if my people do it in limited shifts. Besides guards, we need people on our comms at all times."

"Of course not. Our guards do the same. If you'll come this way, Vanessa." He led the way to a sizable pavilion tent that had been set up while they were dealing with getting the system setup. When she saw how many people were inside getting the last of the food setup, Van couldn't quite hide her surprise. There were considerably more numbers than she'd first thought they had.

"You have trusted us, so now we extend our trust to you, Vanessa McKenzie."

"Thank you."

Timur nodded and guided her to what was clearly meant to be the head table. He seated her at his right hand at the head of his table in a place of honor. John was already seated, only he was much further down on the opposite side from her, which seemed odd until a group of men came in and took the open places around her and Timur. Van had mentally dubbed them as Timur's "war council" when she had been introduced to them earlier in the day.

Once they were settled and drinks were poured, Van realized she was in trouble based off the sour, yeasty smell rising from the cup. She'd heard of kemiz, the Kazakh version of kumis or fermented mare's milk, but had never encountered it before. She took a cautious sip after the first toast and somehow managed to choke it down. It tasted like some unholy union of beer and yogurt, two things that were high on her list of Most Unfavorite Things To Be Consumed.

Feeling numerous eyes on her, she gave her best polite smile and commented. "That is rather bracing."

She must have said the right thing since there were answering smiles and good natured laughing. Who would have guessed that that kind of childhood she had, where she had to eat whatever was put in front of her or starve, would come in useful on the opposite side of the world however many years later? At least the food was delicious and she was smart enough not to ask what exactly was in it. They were also kind enough to give her tea instead of kemiz once she finished that first cup.

Hours later she finally managed to pry herself loose as the festivities turned more raucous than she cared for. Bradford had slipped off long before, but of course they weren't interested in him. They wanted to talk with XCOM's Commander. Apparently stories had made it out all the way here too.

Eventually she convinced them she was just as mortal as them and they settled down to tell her about the area in depth, including where to make contact with other Resistance cells. At least the men hadn't been offended at her using her tablet to take notes of everything they told her.

With Shieldmaiden and Defcon keeping a close eye on the troops that were mingling with the nomads, Van wasn't too worried about them getting into trouble. There were going to be some incredibly sore heads in the morning. She mentioned that to Shieldmaiden on her way out.

The soldier grinned evilly in response. "That's okay, ma'am, I'll make sure they sweat it all out tomorrow."

"Don't make them suffer too much, I'll need them functional just in case."

"Oh, they'll be functional, they'll just regret overindulging."

"Okay. Try to have a good night."

"Night, Commander," both replied at once.

The cold air felt good after the overheated tent. Not to mention refreshing after how redolent said air had become with the scents of food and body odor. She had to hurry her steps though, since she wasn't sure which was more full, her bladder or her brain.

Once certain needs were seen to, not to mention finally shedding her armor and weapons, she decided to seek out John. A quick check with the Avenger's AI told her that he was on the observation deck. That surprised her since the man always had problems with cold temperatures and it was close to freezing outside. Even before the aliens had screwed with her genes it had taken worse weather to make her feel cold.

When she got to the deck, she saw John dressed in a heavy greatcoat leaning on the railing. The wind tugged at his hair and the hem of his coat. Quietly, so as to not startle him, she quietly said, "Hey, John."

He turned around and frowned at her. "Christ, look at how you're dressed and you aren't shivering even a little."

She shrugged and gave him a wane smile. "You know how I am."

"Yeah," he said with a shake of his head. Then his dark brown eyes narrowed at her. "You're unarmed."

"I'm still not easy about carrying around you. Not that I want to hurt you, or anyone else, but…"

John frowned at her, but didn't rehash their argument about her unease of having a gun around him. She truly didn't wish him harm, but she was afraid of what she might do if she had another mental snap. It was a subject they had agreed to disagree about for the time being.

She rolled her shoulders a bit. "Anyway, I thought I'd come see how you were doing, you seemed a little upset when you left earlier. I couldn't leave at the time since it didn't seem like an emergency."

He scrubbed his face with a gloved hand, then he turned away to stare out into the darkness with his hands braced on the railing of the deck. "Just some personal demons."

Suddenly more than a little worried, she walked up beside him "Did you want to talk about it? God knows that you've listened to me the last few weeks." She dared to put an arm around him when he didn't respond. "I seem to recall offering to be a shoulder for you like you have been for me."

There was a quiet exhalation of breath from him that wasn't quite a sigh. "Almost broke my promise to you tonight, Van."

She frowned, he'd promised to always be there for her if she needed him, but she hadn't been in any real danger at the feast, regardless of the vile kemiz. "I don't understand."

He hunched in on himself, but didn't pull away from her. "That drivel Tygan put in my file about "a taste for distilled spirits'. That was him being uncommonly charitable. Spent most of these twenty years at the bottom of a bottle."

That was more than a little confusing to her. She knew drunks, and he certainly didn't act like it. A man haunted by his past, which she could understand, but not someone who was ruled by the demons of alcohol addiction. "John… You're not a drunk."

"I was, Van. Oh, lied to myself like any other drunk, that I was still functional, but if I had crawled out of the bottle sooner than maybe we wouldn't have lost so many people. Maybe found you sooner."

Feeling the tension under her hand, she rubbed his back. "I'm not discounting what you're saying, but I have a hard time believing that."

"Ask Shen or Tygan. They'll tell you."

That was one thing she wasn't going to do. Maybe he had a habit that bad, but he clearly cleaned up his act. She also doubted he would have found her sooner. "So what was this promise?"

Hunching in himself more, his voice barely above a hoarse whisper, he said. "A few months before the mission to rescue you, we got the first concrete proof that you were alive. Gave me the strength to finally put the booze to the side. Once the shakes ended, I threw myself into the planning to get you."

All she could do was turn to wrap her arms around him as tightly as she could, but didn't know what to say in the face of the raw pain she could see in him. He glanced at her. "Made you a promise. That I'd never touch a drop again as long as I had you back. God help me, but tonight that promise almost got broken."

"The kemiz."

"Yeah. Smelled it and that craving, the one I haven't felt in months came back."

Leaning her forehead against his shoulder, she rubbed his back again feeling even worse about the other day. "You didn't though. That's the important thing. I don't think you gave into temptation when you cleaned up after my breakdown."

"Hell no, that shit was nasty."

She smiled at his tone. "That's how I felt about the kemiz, I can't imagine you really giving into that."

"It smelled a bit like beer which started the whole thing." John sighed and shifted to pull her against him to bury his face in the crook of her shoulder.

Van just held him close as she continued to rub his back and leaned her head against his. "I really am sorry about my breakdown the other day, I didn't realize how my stupidity with the moonshine would affect you. Or the fact I managed to choke down that wretched stuff at the banquet earlier."

He just held onto her tightly and at that moment she wanted to try to kiss away his pain, but knew it was the wrong moment. His voice somewhat muffled, John said, "Not mad at you for either one. Can understand why you had the reaction you had. Maybe a little impressed with the 'shine. If the smell was bad, hate to think of the taste."

"Honestly? I think it burned out my taste buds with the first gulp."

That got her a weak chuckle as he straitened up. Seeing the unshed tears in his eyes, she daringly reached out to wipe them away. His hands came up to cover hers for a moment. The look in his eyes almost got her to lean in to kiss him, but wanted to wait until there was a happier moment. Instead, she had a different idea. "You're probably freezing by now. Why don't we go inside, get some hot chocolate." She couldn't help scrunching up her nose a bit. "Even if it is made with goat's milk. We can talk a bit?"

The suggestion seemed to startle him, but then he gave her a slight smile. "You know, I'd like that a lot."

He lowered his hands, but paused so that he could brush his mouth along the knuckles of her hand and she smiled before leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the check. If she kissed him the way she wanted to, they both probably would've ended up in trouble.

The way his expression lit up told her that she'd done the right thing. He cleared his throat. "About that hot chocolate?"

"Yes, let's."

He lowered his hands, but only let one of hers go, instead tucking her one arm in with his. As they went back inside, Van felt like something was starting to heal inside and hoped she was doing the same for him.


	20. Chapter 20

_**February 22, 2035**_

 _ **23:55 Beijing Time Zone**_

 _ **Western China Countryside**_

"We need a codename for the Commander when we're on the mission," Worley commented as Jane was figuring out the last of the logistics for the coming op where she sat on a couple of crates in the armory.

"Excuse me?" There were more important things to do than come up with a name for the Commander when the woman had a perfectly good title the rest of the troops had no problem using.

"Seeing that the aliens are probably still looking for her, if they hear us address her as Commander they're going to come straight for her. We don't exactly hide the fact we're XCOM when we're out in the field."

Damn, he actually had a good point for once. "All right, say I agree. What did you have in mind?"

"Athena. Well, Athena Nike, but that's kind of awkward."

That sounded familiar, and not just from the still popular athletic shoe company. She figured it was some old religion, but that was about it. "I have a feeling she'll recognize the name considering her thing for history. How offensive is this?"

He looked hurt. "It shouldn't be offensive at all. I meant it as a compliment. Athena was the Greek goddess of knowledge and war."

"Christ, Jimmy, I didn't think you were that much of a suck up."

The big man glowered at her. "I'm not sucking up at all. The goddess was known mainly for her intelligence and scholarship. She picked up a weapon only to defend her people from outside enemies. Sound familiar?"

Jane accessed the database to a search on Athena and frowned a little as she read the entry. "Sorry, Jimmy, you aren't shitting me. So what's this thing about Athena Nike?"

"Nike is victory in Greek. There was a minor goddess named that. Athena Nike was a statue by one of the temples in Athens where Athena was depicted as the winged goddess of victory. Somehow I doubt any of the temples are still standing, but I'm pretty sure Commander McKenzie would know about that, seeing that she's into history and stuff."

Jane narrowed her eyes as she thought about what he was saying. When Jimmy got talkative like that, it meant there was something more going on under the brain covered by the mop of unruly brown hair. "Okay, what aren't you saying?"

He sighed. "It's stupid."

"I promise I won't make fun of you." She just hoped that it wasn't something that wasn't going to make her regret that promise.

"The Commander's almost like a figure out of mythology herself. Our modern mythology in comics."

Jane thought about that. She'd never been one for that when she was younger, though her Da had several plastic tubs filled with them, but she was familiar enough with the more popular figures… "Yeah. I can see that. Our own personal superhero, huh?"

"I don't know if I'd go that far, but it seems fitting, all things considered."

"Yeah. I can use a second opinion on something, Jimmy."

"What?"

"How are the others dealing with the thought of Athena joining us on the op?" She figured she might as well start getting used to using that name.

His teeth flashed brightly against his beard. "They seem pretty psyched about it. We've all seen the work you and Brandt have done with her. It'll be good to see what she does when she isn't holding back against any of us in practice."

It was good to get confirmation of what she thought. While this was a week sooner than what she suggested to Central, it looked to be a small straight forward op on another warehouse that would be perfect to put Athena through her paces. Besides, the woman needed to get out more. Even if it was to go kill aliens.

As was typical, Athena showed up precisely on time and accompanied by the remaining members of the team that was going out this time. Nor was it surprising to see Central accompanying them this time. The newest member of the team seemed to be in good spirits, the looming shadow behind her on the other hand… He looked like he could've been a storm cloud.

Jane had made sure to squash any inclination for gossip that Hause might have had about the incident the week before, but fortunately he did understand discretion. Unlike certain other troops. Then she noticed the box being held by Athena.

Seeing the direction of Jane's gaze, a smile of pure mischief curled up a corner of the woman's mouth. "I bring a gift courtesy of the Chief Engineer." She opened the box and extracted a rather translucent, pale blue band that seemed to have a traces of circuitry inside it. Then she pressed something on the band and two prongs popped out. That didn't bode well. "It's called a skulljack, it's to be used to hack an implant in an ADVENT officer's head for certain pieces of information."

Yeah, that sounded really bad.

The auburn haired woman stepped away from the pack and set the skulljack down on the scarred table they used for a variety of purposes. She surveyed those around her. "I'm going to be honest here about why I'm going to ask one of you to risk getting up close and personal with an officer like this."

It didn't escape Jane's notice that Central's expression had turned even grimmer and her stomach clenched. This wasn't going to be pretty. Athena continued. "It's no secret that I was in the hands of our enemies for the past two decades. What has been kept quiet, and leading to this lovely piece of equipment, is that they were using me as a combat simulator to provide tactical and strategic information to the ADVENT troops."

Oh shit, Jane thought. If those details were what the Commander had found out last week, no wonder she wanted to get smashed. She spared a glance for Central who had moved so he could keep watch on the soldiers' reactions. Commander McKenzie just stood at the table looking cool, calm and collected.

Worley edged over to Jane and commented for her ears only. "I don't think I could be that unruffled when saying something like that."

Her reply was just as quiet. "Me neither, but that's why she's the Commander. This explains what you found out before."

"Yeah," he breathed. "That poor woman."

"So you're not suspicious of her now?"

"Nope. She's being up front with us. Plus it's like you said, she could've screwed us badly more than once. Instead she's trying to build us up."

The small huddle of soldiers broke up. Hause was apparently the elected spokesman since he stepped forth. "Well, ma'am, I guess that means you have even more reason to go out and kick alien ass tonight."

Athena's smile was radiant.

Jane stepped forward. "Then in that case, Commander, Worley here had an idea that you might like."

Her eyebrows arched up slightly as she asked. "Oh? What did you have in mind?"

"Since he figured that the aliens probably still want you, and after your little bit just now I figure they must _really_ want you back, we'd give you a codename."

The brows creeped up a bit more. "Okay. Go for it."

Since it was Worley's idea, she nudged him forward. He cleared his throat nervously. "I was thinking Athena."

The Commander seemed stunned for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice seemed a little hoarse. "You flatter me. Naming me after the Greek goddess."

There were a couple of murmurs of approval and a lot of nods from the troops. Central gave one of his rare smiles.

"All right," Athena said. "Let's get down to business. Who wants the 'jack for tonight's mission? The Chief says that in about a week she'll have a new version that'll help with hacking their systems in general."

Jane wasn't at all surprised to see Worley leap on the prospect. "I will, Athena!"

She could see amusement, but no surprise in the Commander's expression. She quickly went over the use of the disturbing thing. Jane tried not to shudder at the thought and was grateful that they didn't ask her to use the horrible device.

Then it was time to gear up. It didn't surprise her to see Central checking on Athena's armor and equipment. And truth be told, she wasn't surprised when she saw Athena reach out to touch his shoulder or that he placed his other hand over hers. She couldn't hear what they said, but she had a good idea.

"Hm," Defcon said thoughtfully. "They're getting a little less discrete. Good."

"Defcon," she growled in response.

"What? Everyone can see there's something going on between them. As far as I can tell, no one disapproves and the shit they've both been through, they deserve it."

Well, so much for trying to quell the gossip.

Shieldmaiden shouted for attention. "Okay, people! Let's get a move on. Athena will brief us en route."

It was more than a little surreal to hear Athena shouting over the roar of the skyranger's engines instead of the professional, disembodied voice over her comms. Not that she wasn't professional in person, it was just strange. Already familiar with the details, she kept an ear on what Athena was saying, but instead kept an eye on the rest of the troops to see how they were handling this.

They didn't seem put off. They listened as they always did, then once she was done began their usual pre-op bullshit, which they included the newest member of the team.

Okay, so maybe the strangeness was all her own.

Then the short flight was over and it was the moment of truth. Athena flung herself on her rope with the same enthusiasm the rest of the troops and landed without tangling with any of the other ropes. So far, so good.

She scanned the area for threats and suppressed a shiver. This warehouse was located in a bombed out shell of a complex and didn't seem all that stable, but it was the area itself that bothered her. It looked like something out of an old horror movie. The kind where a military unit was sent to investigate some trumped up problem that was going to lead to some monster hunting them down one by one.

Well, maybe that wasn't so far off from reality when she thought about it.

"Man, this place is creepy," Cyber commented quietly.

"It is," Athena agreed. "But, I'm pretty sure that black site was worse."

There were some quiet groans.

"See? Not so bad. Now let's settle down and get our job done. Bird dog, scan the area."

Shieldmaiden smiled to herself, being out in the field hadn't fazed Athena yet. Or she was doing a great job faking it.

The specialist sent his gremlin out as ordered. "There's a lot of life signs in the building, Athena. I can't tell how many are alien or not, but there's definitely normal humans in there. I can tell that there's a trio of ADVENT on patrol with a sectoid and a viper on guard outside of the main door. "

So much for an easy op. But she wasn't going to call an abort without Athena's permission.

Judging by the continued calm, Athena wasn't ready to give up either. "Thank you, Bird dog. Curen, I want you to setup at the platform just to the east of us. It should privide cover and give you full view of the area."

"K." The sniper ran quietly to her designated position while Athena had the rest of the squad reposition themselves to ambush the patrol.

It was chilling to see how casual it seemed to be for Athena to take out the trooper with her sword, even if Shieldmaiden had helped train her. Usually when it was the first time to kill something was difficult for a new soldier. That thought spun through her mind as she swung her own sword taking out the other trooper, leaving the officer for Bird dog.

With practiced ease he grabbed the officer before it could react and shoved the probes of the skulljack under the chin into the brain. "Got it."

As he whipped out the ichor covered tines and dropped the body, there was a flash of purple light and Athena doubled over in pain. She said through griitted teeth. "I'll live, just deal with that!"

"That" appeared to be a woman made of flickering golden energy, her head made of some sort black material containing white goggle like eyes and a glowing red brain surrounded by hair that looked more like smoke than what the ranger considered as hair.

Preparing to fire as ordered, Shieldmaiden decided that she would never jinx another mission as being "easy" ever again.


	21. Chapter 21

_(Author's note: Sorry for the delay folks, work was crazy busy last week. Hopefully I'll be back on track now. Once again y'all are the best!)_

 _ **February 23, 2035**_

 _ **01:13 Beijing Time Zone**_

 _ **Western China Countryside**_

Killing the trooper proved to be far easier than Athena had expected. There was no last minute hesitation as she thrust her sword for the weak part of the armor. Really, the hardest part was wrapping her mind around the fact she was using a sword in this day and age. Except using a gun would've drawn attention and she just wasn't comfortable with attempting to break something's neck just yet.

The worst part of the whole thing was the stink of the creature. Somehow it seemed worse than the alien corpses that were brought in. It was frighteningly easy to dodge the spray of blood. She'd never been one to be considered quick or agile.

Shieldmaiden moved on the other trooper as Bird dog casually grabbed the officer when Athena had attacked hers. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the 'jack get slammed home and realized that it was awful as she thought it would be.

When the crampy nausea hit just as Bird dog ripped out the 'jack, Van thought that the shot Tygan had given her didn't work and her body decided to exact its revenge at the worst possible moment. Except her skin normally didn't have the awful crawling feeling that she was experiencing at that moment. There'd been only one other time she'd had that sensation…

Bird dog asked worriedly. "Com – Athena, you okay?"

Before she could answer there was a flash of violet light and she got a good eyeful of the "woman" made of crackling energy. The first thought that crossed her mind was what the fuck? What actually came out of her mouth was much better. "I'll live, just deal with that!"

The creature seemed to flicker in and out of reality as it stared at the soldiers who were training their weapons on it. Then it vanished.

For only the very briefest moments, Van was disappointed that it didn't make a _bamf_ sound.

Over the comms Central asked, _'What the hell?"_

Tygan answered. _"That appears to be the 'Codex' responsible for safeguarding the alien data stores. It'll have to be neutralized if we intend to recover the data."_

Wasn't that just peachy keen?

Movement to the left of her drew her attention to where it had teleported. Seeing the Codex raising its hands, Athena yelled. "Scatter!"

It was too late as the world turned into a violent, purple maelstrom of psionic energy. There were rather discomfiting popping sounds from her shotgun, but fortunately the ammo didn't blow up on her as Athena overcame her illness to roll out of the storm.

There was a crack of gunfire as Curen fired her rifle at the strange being as those on the ground scrambled out of the psi-storm. The round did something to the creature because its flickering became even more erratic and it seemed to spasm.

Only to create another copy of itself on the opposite side of the squad. Of course the copy then teleported away. Probably to get help.

Tygan said incredulously. _"I've never seen anything like this. The Codex is projecting multiple copies of itself into our dimension!"_

Ignoring the doctor's comments for the moment, she said to the rest of the squad over their comms as she ran towards the original copy of the Codex with her sword out. "Keep an eye out for reinforcements."

The last few moments apparently drained it of energy to make it sluggish enough for Athena to hack at it with her sword. There was only the faintest hint of resistance as her blade went through its neck and an uncomfortable shock jolted her arm, but she separated the head from the "body". It screamed as the body shattered and disappeared.

The head fell with an all too solid thump at her feet with its sightless eyes staring up at her.

" _Excellent work, Commander!"_ The doctor praised her. _"Hopefully that physical remnant left behind will provide some insight into the aliens' ongoing plans."_

"Don't celebrate yet. This is just the start," Athena muttered as she reloaded her shotgun.

The swirling psionic energy vanished with a pop and with it the last of her nausea and skin crawling. Shieldmaiden caught her in a sigh of relief. "You okay, ma'am?"

"Fine. Any injuries?"

"No –"

Another shot from Curen silenced the ranger. Athena could see the vicious smile the sniper must be wearing when she said, _"Got you, bitch."_

Neither woman said anything as they both drew their guns and ran to join the others.

The sectoid and viper had another grouping of ADVENT forces with them, only it consisted of two troopers and one of the mechs.

The night was just getting better and better.

When she saw one of the troopers carrying what appeared to be a serrated black sword with red energy crackling along its length, she frowned a little to herself. On a private line, Central said, _"Those used to be their non-violent troops to break up protests. They aren't quite as gentle these days."_

"Roger." Of course they wouldn't, ADVENT had a firm grip on the world, they no longer needed the velvet glove to conceal their iron fist.

Advancing cautiously, Athena was pleased to see that the squad had remained spread out just in case of grenades, micro-missiles, poison or any other unpleasantness from the aliens.

The two troopers mimicked the XCOM team as they separated from the mech, leaving it alone.

Defcon yelled as she loaded her grenade launcher. "Hey asshole! Got a gift for ya!" She sent the grenade flying at the mech. The explosive went off just over its head, shredding a good chunk of its upper armor. A hail of bullets from the rest of the squad exploited its weakness. Sparks erupted then it collapsed in an inert pile of metal and electronics.

The viper used the focus on the mech as an opportunity to make a grab for Cyber and failed as he ducked beneath the grasping organ. It hissed angrily and fired at him with its plasma rifle as the sectoid sent a blast of psionic energy at the medic.

Cyber called out. "It's only a flesh… Uhhh. Where am I? Urk!"

The viper succeeded in grabbing Cyber in his dazed state and quickly coiled around him. The sectoid hissed and bobbed its head from side to side as it tried to decide on a target.

"Okay, people, listen up," Athena said as firmly as she could before people could panic. "Shield, you're with me, Bird dog, you and Defcon take care of those two troopers."

Shieldmaiden ran in silence by her side as Defcon opened up on the advancing trooper with the sword and Bird dog fired on the other.

There was a new crack of fire from Curen's rifle and the sectoid collapsed into a pile, missing most of its head.

Mirroring each other, the two women let their guns fall to their sides on the guns' slings and drew their sword. Athena sliced above Cyber's head as Shieldmaiden sliced below him. Holding her blade in her off hand, Athena offered a hand to Cyber to help him get to his feet. As he leaned on her to catch his breath, his gremlin came buzzing over to him.

Shieldmaiden's shotgun barked as she helped finish off the last of the troopers.

Cyber shook his head. "Ugh. Not sure which is worse, getting my body squeezed by the Rule 34 reject or having my brains squeezed by the horror flick reject."

She flicked her sword to the side and sheathed it then patted his shoulder as she scanned the area for any further hostiles. "You going to be okay, Cyber?"

"Yeah, gonna have some impressive bruises, but that's about it."

"Good," she said with no little relief. "Bird dog, scan the area again."

" _No need, Athena,"_ Central said over the squad's comms. _"We're not picking up any further signs. Though there are still a lot of life signs in that warehouse."_

"I thought that our intel from the last place said this was supposed to be full of supplies too?"

" _That's correct."_

"That's some sick shit there, Athena," Cyber commented. "Humans as supplies."

She nodded her agreement as various ideas about why they would be considered supplies, then dismissed them for the moment. "Curen, I want you to remain on guard where you are, unless you can see a better vantage point."

" _I'm good."_

"The rest of you, on me."

There were quiet acknowledgements before they warily approached the warehouse. Athena took a long look at the ADVENT vehicles near the building. There were two massive armored personnel carriers flanked by two smaller armed escort vehicles. She really didn't like the implications posed by their presence.

"Bird dog, just humor me and do another scan before we go in."

He gave her a thumbs up and sent the gremlin off to its work. Defcon reported. "No explosives on the doorway."

"Only human lifesigns in there, Athena." Bird dog said after his gremlin swooped around the warehouse. "They aren't moving though."

Definitely not good. "Go ahead with the breech."

Defcon kicked the door open and Bird dog went in with assault rifle at the ready. He called out. "Oh god, get the Commander in here now!"

That sent her running in, her own gun ready. What she saw caused her to skid to a stop and almost drop her weapon in shock. The warehouse was just a massive, brightly lit room with no walls to break up the lines of sight. A room filled with cages containing people of all ages and ethnicities. Some stared at them with incomprehension, most, too many, were curled up unmoving on the bottoms of their cages.

Central's voice crackled over her private comms. _"Van. I don't know what can be done for these people"_

Oh, she had a very good idea of what could be done and was quietly amused that he was calling her by name over the comms instead of Commander or Athena. She subvocalized, or attempted to at any rate. "I do."

" _This is a plan I'm not going to like, isn't it?"_

"You have no idea." Athena raised her voice loud enough for her squad to hear her, they were guarding the area, but seemed unnerved by the situation. "Someone find the keys to open these cages. Plus the keys for those vehicles outside. Bird dog, I need you to disable the transponders on said vehicles. Cyber, start checking on these people to give an idea of what shape they're in. Also check for any tracers on them."

" _My god, Van. You're insane. Brilliant, but insane."_

A faint smile touched her lips for the briefest moment. "Oh, yes, I am to both. There's an open field nearby, I need the Avenger there to meet us. There's too many people to cram into Firebrand and it would take too long to ferry them back and forth. Besides, I'm sure Lily would appreciate getting her hands on some untouched ADVENT machines."

Then she took a big risk, but she had to do something for these people until they could get them out. She removed her helmet to let them get a good look at her. There were quiet murmurs as people began to move to where they could see her. She could hear a young boy say, "Look, Mommy, she's _human."_

She projected her voice so she could be heard, a knack she'd learned from acting as a TA for History 101 classes during the bygone age of her master's degree, "My name is Vanessa McKenzie. I'm Commander of XCOM and we're here to rescue you. We'll get you out of those things as soon as we can."

Athena didn't expect cheers or any other over the top reaction too often seen in movies. The reactions she did get humbled her. The hope in their eyes was everything she could hope for.

" _So what are you planning to do with these people?"_

She walked over to Cyber to do what she could to help him and answered Central's question on the way. "Take them to HQ, get them treated, and see if any of them have skills we can use. If not, or they have young children, we leave them with Valley. He's always complaining about not enough hands. Besides, there's plenty of space there."

Central chuckled. _"Good idea. I'll let him know and the Avenger's ETA will be in a half hour."_

"Thanks."

It turned out she wasn't needed to help Cyber after all, since one of the first captives to any kind of life proved to be a physician. A matronly woman who quickly took over the triage with brisk efficiency. Athena hoped they could convince the woman to join them, an actual medical doctor would be a major blessing.

Shieldmaiden caught up with her. "Got something to show you, Commander."

"Lead on. And I hope we have people who know how to drive those vehicles." Van realized they were starting to walk toward the rear of the building.

The soldier gave a bit of a shrug. "They won't be a problem. If you've ever driven one of the bigger moving vans, you can drive these, even the big ones. Back here is what I wanted to show you."

There were orderly stacks of crates. Van couldn't understand all of the alien words, but enough to know that she was looking at medical supplies. She continued on, medical supplies gave way to food, clothing. Armor. The last caused her to stop.

"Thought you'd like that," the ranger said with a grin. "There's even trailers that we can hook up to the escorts to haul this stuff with us."

"This is going to take more than just a few of us. We're better off getting these people loaded up in the carriers, then come back with our people to haul this back to the Avenger." She looked around one last time. "Looks like the people weren't supplies after all."

"I wouldn't put it that way, ma'am. I think they were on their way to a lab or something."

Or something. Like that black site. "You have a point there. Let's see about getting these people out of here."

Getting the people moving and into the vehicles weren't a problem, even though things got a bit cozy. The problem was when Shieldmaiden handed Van the keys to one of the carriers while the two of them were determining the drivers. Absently jiggling the keys in one hand, she frowned a bit. "I don't think is the best idea."

"Why? You'll be in the center of the convoy and the most protected. You're good with your shotgun, but it doesn't have the range of an assault rifle and we haven't exactly given you a chance to practice shooting from a moving vehicle."

"I learned how to drive in Newark and spent the past five years driving in D.C."

"Yes!" Cyber exclaimed cheerfully. "I'm calling shotgun with the Commander."

Van looked after the med

Shieldmaiden snickered. "Guess that means you're driving after all."

"Right. So how all terrain are these things?"

"Oh, they'll roll over the rubble in the area just fine. I was planning a direct way out of here if you didn't mind."

"I don't, but our passengers might." Van thought about the old Bioware Mass Effect game with the Mako. She was fairly certain the squadmates always cringed at the thought of her Shepard driving. It was probably something like punishment duty and she didn't want to inflict that on people they were supposed to be rescuing.

"So we take it slow and easy."

The drive was slow, but hardly _easy_ in anyway. The carrier was more recalcitrant than the most beat-up rental truck she'd ever had the misfortune to drive and there'd been some real doozies. It bucked and jittered when they were on actual roads. When they went off road, it became a nightmare.

After the initial, if muffled, screams from those in the rear, Van got worried at the silence. "Cyber, can you check on the folks in the back?"

"They're fine."

"I'm a bit worried about how quiet they are."

He laughed. "Probably saving their breath for the next pothole."

She shook her head, it wasn't funny. Though she did privately admit that it had been amusing to just smash through things with the carrier. Including the walls of derelict buildings.

By the time they arrived, the Avenger had landed. Only the area around the ramp was well lit, but there was already a swarm of activity as all the spare hands available were prepping for their arrival. She heaved a sigh of relief as she was able to bring the carrier to a halt and hoped to never drive one of those things again.

There were some not so quiet prayers of thanks as the rear doors opened and the passengers fled the vehicle. Van was just glad that she wasn't the one who was going to have to clean out the rear. She was fairly certain she'd heard more than few people get sick back there.

Van slumped in her seat, resting her forehead on the steering wheel trying to catch her breath. Was it only an hour and a half since the drop from Firebrand? God it felt longer than that.

The door opened causing her to sit up and saw John standing there giving her a sympathetic look. She said, "We don't pay our soldiers anywhere near enough for the shit they go through."

"They don't do it for the pay, Van. Though life on the Avenger is better than what they'd otherwise have." He held out a hand to her. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up, Tygan wants to see you."

She gratefully accepted the help, having a hard time believing how stiff she felt, then leaned against him with her face against his shoulder. She mumbled as she held onto him. "That was awful. How can they keep going out like that? How can I keep sending them?"

John wrapped an arm around her and gently stroked her hair. "It's what soldiers do, angel. You'll keep sending them because that's what they're here for and they're damn good at their jobs. Even if you never go into the field again, they'll still respect what you did tonight."

"You make it sound like I'll go out again."

"Not a definite, but never know what might come up."

She sighed a bit. "Well, at least now I know I can face them."

"Never doubted it. Should've listened to the troops twenty years ago when they wanted to start training you."

More than a little reluctantly she drew back so she could face him. "Twenty years ago I don't think I would've been physically capable of doing that kind of physical activity."

He smiled and put his arm around her shoulders to gently get her moving toward the Avenger. "You would've been capable, it just would've been a lot more work."

Since it seemed like John didn't care if anyone saw them, she slid her arm around his waist as they slowly made their way to the Avenger. "Yes, like I needed more work then. So why does Tygan want to see me? Don't we have people in worse shape that need to be seen to?"

"Because of your reaction to the appearance of the Codex."

"Oh. Well. Given everything else that happened, I kind of forgot about that."

John just shook his head with a faint smile.

Twenty minutes later she was sitting in the doctor's lab. He gave an odd look at John. "You sure you want Bradford here, Vanessa?"

"Yes, because I'm going to end up telling him everything anyway."

"Very well." After setting his tray of implements to the side, he pulled on a pair of gloves.

The exam, unsurprisingly, started with her head. While the doctor was checking her eyes, she somewhat facetiously asked, "Do you think it's possible to be allergic to psionic energy?"

Thankfully the man was now used to her sense of humor, so he just shook his head. "More likely you're sensitive to it."

"That's what I was afraid of," she said, not hiding her worry. Once the doctor was done with the basics and getting ready to do some of his scan, she met John's worried eyes. "The night of the attack…"

His gaze unfocused as he thought that over. "You didn't say exactly what the problem was, but you were shivering, but you said you weren't feeling cold or sick."

Tygan paused to listen.

"That's true. I felt a buzzing that night, first in my head, then my skin started crawling with it." She shrugged a little, feeling self-conscious at the poor description, but she just didn't know how to describe it otherwise. "Tonight, just before the Codex popped up, I had that crawling feeling again, but this time it was accompanied by a crampy queasiness." She rolled over the rest of the night in her mind. "I think I felt some of that buzzing when the sectoid dazed Cyber, but I was somewhat busy at the time to really notice."

She wiped her hand over her mouth, then finally gave voice to what'd been stewing in the back of her mind ever since the fighting ended. "I think I might have been sensing the aliens' initial attack on the old HQ and didn't realize it. That tech that attacked Bradford then was clearly mind controlled. He probably wasn't the only one"

Van kept her anger towards Vahlan to herself, since she still didn't know if the woman just screwed up, or had deliberately lied. "So Tygan, I guess there is something to what you said about my psionic potential."

The doctor started putting away his implements while John looked like he was thinking about something. She tilted her head to the side. "No more poking and prodding?"

"Not tonight anyway. You're clearly in good health, physically and mentally. I am going to need more sophisticated equipment for what I have in mind."

She peered at him suspiciously. He gave her a faint smile. "I think it's time that we developed our own psi users."

"I'm going to need to think about that before I give you an answer."

"Of course. Now I'm going to suggest that you go get some rest. Let your support staff do their jobs, they'll know where to find you if there's an emergency."

John nodded. "I can probably handle most of them anyway."

There was no hiding of the annoyance she felt at being handled like a child, but couldn't think of anything to say that didn't sound like something that would come out of a petulant child. Which meant she was more tired than she realized. So instead she responded as a mature adult. "Yes, Doctor."

It wasn't entirely surprising that John left with her since he still had the look of someone still deep in thought. Since it seemed like there was no one around, she asked, "Did you want to talk about whatever is bothering you? If it's about the psionics, I fully understand."

"Not precisely. We do need our own to combat what the aliens are fielding, but where do we draw the line to keep from becoming them?"

That made her even more tired. That had been one of her fears since she was first brought into XCOM. "I don't know, John. I just hope we can stay clear eyed enough to avoid that. I do know that I won't make anyone be subjected to testing. It'll be purely voluntary."

That got her a faint smile as they arrived at the door to her quarters. "Maybe that's how we'll avoid that in the end."

"Excuse me?" She wasn't quite tracking where he was going. The door opened when she stepped up to it, but he didn't follow her like she expected.

"Your insistence on people being given a choice. Even the ones who become our soldiers."

"This is too important to have anyone unwilling in our ranks."

He put his hands into his pockets. "That has always been an easy decision for you, hasn't it?"

"Giving someone a choice? I honestly never thought of it as a hard one to make. And before you start pointing out the whole military aspect of the old XCOM, we all made choices to be there. Maybe it seemed like there weren't any choices, but they were there, even if some of them were unpalatable. That's difference between us and ADVENT. We want people to have those choices, fully informed choices, not just do what they're told by an oppressive regime."

He gave her a small smile. "Thank you for giving this old man hope. G'night Van."

Then he was gone before she could huff at him about the old man comment.

And wondered what he would do if she did choose to follow Tygan's hints about allowing her own sleeping abilities to be awakened?


	22. Chapter 22

_**February 25, 2035**_

 _ **20:30 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

" _So how much longer are you going to stay in hiding, Van?"_ Lily laughingly asked over the intercom. _"Though staying in your quarters isn't exactly hiding."_

"Laugh it up. See how much you like it when you start getting mobbed by people who want to show their undying gratitude."

Lily snickered. _"That's what you get for doing the whole hero thing there."_

"Hero thing? I was just trying to reassure them that we were friendly."

" _I'm pretty sure the fact that your team just slaughtered a bunch of aliens and ADVENT would probably tell them that."_

"Not necessarily, there's plenty of unpleasant people out there, Lily."

" _You might have a point there."_

"Anyway, I'm only hiding from my sudden fanclub. Which is why I've been staying on the Avenger while the construction crews help finish the new facilities." Fortunately, there was a long standing order from Central that only a limited amount of non-XCOM personnel could come on board. Van had seen no reason to change that when command shifted to her and now she was very glad she'd left that in place.

To be honest, Van hadn't expected gratitude once the shock had worn off the rescues, so she wasn't quite sure how to react to it.

It also didn't help that a good number of men, and a few women, had tried hitting on her when they learned she was single. Letting them down gently had been uncomfortable. She wasn't used to that kind of attention. While she was starting to enjoy some of the changes that had been done to her physically, she wasn't happy about the subtle changes in her appearance.

" _Van… You need a hobby."_

"Excuse me?" Where the hell did that come from?

" _If you're not training with those two crazy rangers, you're in Mission Control. When you are in your quarters you're usually doing some sort of research or making plans, but I haven't heard about you doing anything fun."_

She wasn't here for fun and there was too much for her to catch up on to waste her time on doing frivolous things. Besides, she had no idea how long she was going to remain herself. She lived in fear of encountering the right trigger that would cause her to betray everyone she'd come to care for. Even if she'd known most of them for less than a month, this XCOM was fast becoming the family she'd longed for all her life.

Van sighed. "This is a conversation you really don't want to have."

" _Why not? I don't want you burning out on us. It's not just that you're everything Dad said you were, you're the glue that's holding XCOM together."_

Wasn't that what John was? She'd always seen him as the heart and soul of the organization. "I think you might be exaggerating a bit there."

" _Nope. We were a mess before we got you, none of us really meshed all that well together. You know I don't really trust Tygan, and Bradford… Well, he's different now. All that got us going in one direction was our agreement to get you and reinstate you as our Commander."_

The admission should have surprised her, but it only made certain attitudes and comments suddenly make sense. "Lily… my hobbies are pretty much gone thanks to our invaders. Everyone here knows what I used to do before XCOM. These past twenty years…they should have been history I lived through, not trying to study like I would, say, the effects of industrialization on Japan during the Meiji period."

She rolled her shoulders and went on at the other woman's gesture. "I was big into sci-fi and fantasy in all sorts of media. So while it might be exciting to read a story like what our lives have become, living it isn't so hot."

" _Ugh,"_ Lily wrinkled her nose. " _Okay, I can see how that would be hard, there's got to be_ something _though."_

"Well, it's not like I can stress bake like I used to."

" _Do I want to know?"_

"I found baking pretty soothing when I stressed. Usually make a lot of cookies or brownies Sometimes cupcakes. I'd keep some for myself, then bring the rest into school, then later into work."

" _That must've made you popular. And yeah, I can't see Cookie letting you into her kitchen. She'd be scandalized."_

It still amused Van that the woman who was the head cook of the Avenger's mess had a first name of Cookie. Not that she ever let that slip around the woman, who was more than capable of hauling around one hundred pound sacks of rice or flour all on her own without breaking a sweat.

" _Come on, Van. Try a little harder. Music?"_

The music library of the Avenger forcibly reminded Van that the Earth wasn't the world she knew. It wasn't bad exactly, but she just couldn't get into the rhythms that had the subtle alien influence. Even on the stuff made by the resistance. She strove for diplomacy. "I haven't really found anything that fits me yet, but I'll keep searching." She shrugged again. "I used to enjoy putting my own computers together, or fiddling with other electronics, but the modern day stuff is beyond me. I'm just glad I was able to pick up the tablet interface."

" _Oh! Hm. I'll have to get back to you on that, Van. I might have some ideas."_ Lily looked away from the screen for a moment then back to Van. _"Anyway, I need to get going, there's a couple of things I need to work on."_

Grateful that awkward conversation was over, Van smiled. "Later, Lily."

After trying, and horribly failing, at going back to the report she'd been reviewing, Van decided to browse the entertainment library again. A notification that someone was at her door was a welcome relief since it felt like she was flailing about in unknown waters. Seeing that it was John at the door made her hope that maybe he wanted to spend some time doing something that didn't involve their duties.

Because now that Lily brought up the subject of hobbies, Van realized she was a little bored. Almost bored enough to take up sewing shit again. A thing she'd sworn off doing once she was able to afford to buy nice clothes that fit properly without her having to alter them herself.

She opened the door with a smile. "Hey John. Come on in."

"Hope I'm not disturbing you," he said as he entered the room.

"Not at all. I wasn't doing much of anything. Did you want something to drink?" She gave him a sly smile. "I have ice cold protein shakes." Van knew exactly how much he loathed the things and couldn't resist teasing him.

He chuckled a bit. "No thank you. Will try to make this quick."

"No rush on my part, I've just been…dithering around tonight. Why don't you sit down? And if you want, I do have coffee, ice water and iced tea."

John gave her an odd look before pulling a box out of one of the pockets of his pants then settled down on one of the couches. "Seriously, Van. I'm fine." He studied her for a long moment. "Is there a reason why you're so nervous?"

That gave her pause since just a few minutes before she'd been happy to see him, then she quickly realized why. "Well, considering what happened the last time you were here…"

He regarded her for a moment. "Van, if you'd rather go somewhere to talk, we can."

She fisted her hands against the back of the couch, then made herself walk around to sit next to him. "No. I won't let my fear control me."

With a warm smile he handed her a square box the size of her palm that was just a few inches thick. "Found this yesterday when I was sorting out what old XCOM equipment that could be purged to make room for your haul. Shen thinks her father may have held onto it and she promises it works, but didn't try to decrypt it."

Curious, she opened up the box and froze in shock. Nestled in foam was a pale green crystalline block with the XCOM badge engraved in the top. One side had ports attached to it so that it could be connected to a tablet or computer. Lightly touching the emblem with her fingertips, she said in an awed whisper. "My old hard drive. The experimental one that Doctor Shen made for me to test out for him."

With trembling hands she set the box down on the table and hurried over to her desk to get her tablet and a dongle. John watched her and commented. "I'm told that our current drives are based off this design."

"I didn't understand how they worked since they were based off the alien tech, but I do know this one was capable of holding a petabyte of data, which was amazing at the time." She sat back down next to him, sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she willed her hands to stop shaking. Once she was positive she wouldn't drop anything, she connected the tablet and the drive, then started up the tablet.

A massive block of data scrolled across the screen, then a single greater than sign came up. She held up a hand to keep John quiet as she quietly sang the passcode into the mic of the tablet. There was a beep from the tablet then the prompt changed back to the normal tablet interface.

"Is everything okay, Van?"

"I'll find out in a moment." As she accessed the drive's files she found that she couldn't control the shaking in her fingers. Van fisted her hand for a moment, then feeling a little steadier tapped the screen to randomly check different files.

Pure joy overwhelmed her as the files opened to reveal that their contents were still readable.

Keeping her movements carefully precise she set the tablet down on the table next to the box containing the drive as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Van?" John asked worriedly.

"Happy tears. I don't have the words."

But she didn't need words did she? Not when there was another way of showing John just what kind of gift he'd given her. Smiling through the tears, keeping her movements slow and deliberate, she turned to face him. His dark eyes searched her face as she reached out to caress his face with one hand before leaning in to brush her lips against his.

His lips were slightly chapped, soft yet firm at the same time and as kissable as she always thought they looked.

One of his hands cupped the back of her head as the other wrapped around her to pull her against him. Her pulse thudded loudly in her ears as she slid her arms around his neck while moving into the slow, exploring kiss.

Unfortunately, their bodies' demands for air caused them to reluctantly part to catch their breath. John pulled her fully onto his lap then brushed the last of the tears away from her face. She closed her eyes as she nuzzled into his touch, struck at the contrast between the work roughened skin of his fingers and the smooth surface of the fingerless glove covering the palm.

When she was capable of speaking again after his hand fell away from her face to go around her waist, she said hoarsely. "Thank you, John. Your gift just gave me a large piece of my life back."

It took a couple of times to clear his throat before John spoke in a husky voice. "Quite welcome. Didn't expect that reaction." The smile he gave her left her almost breathless. "You can thank me like that any time."

She smiled back at him. "I've wanted to do that for a while, but I wanted it to be the right time."

"Been wanting to kiss you, but didn't want to force anything. Figured the others probably warned you away from me."

Snuggling in closer, enjoying the feel of being held, she ran her fingertips along his jaw to let herself memorize the feel of the lines of his face. "They didn't warn me away from you, but they were worried I might hurt you without meaning to."

John shook his head. "Not that bad off."

"I know that since you've somehow managed to help me keep my shit together. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done."

John grinned. "Oh, I can think of a way."

With a laugh she kissed him again, which he returned with interest. When he let her go, he asked, "So what exactly is on there?"

"I'll show you." She slipped off his lap to grab the tablet, then settled against him so that he could see the screen. When he draped his arm around her, she snuggled in closer, then called up the directory containing her old XCOM information. "I know you've always teased me about being paranoid, but I have my reasons. File backups were a thing for me after a classmate lost all of his research due to a hard drive failure and he hadn't backed anything up. I know that Vahlen and Dr. Shen had their own backups, but I figured why not keep my own? I had plenty of space on here."

"My god," he whispered, face a light with wonder as he scrolled through the files. "Vahlen's research and autopsy reports. Shen's designs and theories. Amazing." He paused at another directory that was labeled _VMObs_ that she tried to scroll past. "What's this?"

"Something that's probably not terribly useful now."

He snorted. "Let me be the judge of that."

"My observations of the tactics the different aliens took, the abilities that I observed, random ideas I had on how to counter them. With so much time gone by and changes made to them…"

"Can't hurt to compare them with what we know now, there might still be useful data."

"True, and before I forget." With a few swipes she highlighted specific directories and sent the information to Tygan and Lily. "That should keep those two busy for some time."

"Did…did you just send all of the files to them?"

"Well, I sent the ones that they would find interesting. Should be only a couple of terabytes each."

"Only," he said incredulously, then laughed. "You are a wicked woman. Please never lose that sense of humor of yours."

Van smirked back at him, feeling giddy. With great care he took the tablet out of her hands to set it aside.

When she looked at him questioningly, he gently cupped her face with both hands and lightly stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. Feeling the warm skin of his palms, she wondered when he'd taken off his gloves. That thought vanished as he kissed her with a slow intensity.

When parted her lips under his in silent invitation he deepened the kiss with a soft sound. His right hand slowly stroked down her side until it got to her waist then pulled her onto his lap so that she was straddling him. Both of them were breathing raggedly when he starting lightly kissing down her chin to her throat when she tilted her head back to give him easier access. The fingers of her left hand lightly fisted in the hair on the back of his head as her right hand caressed down his neck.

"Yes," was all she could say when he got to the edge of the collar of her jumpsuit and she could feel his growing excitement against her.

John paused and looked up at her a little regretfully. "Van…There's nothing more than I'd like than to take you to bed, but I don't want rush us."

She blinked at him a bit as her now fuzzy brain tried to understand what he was saying. Licking her lips a bit, she finally managed to come up with a vaguely intelligible answer. "You're not rushing anything."

"Call me old fashioned, but I'd like to make this a bit more special."

Van mulled that over as she reluctantly shifted to his side so that she wouldn't be distracted by him. "That's… probably not a bad idea." She ran a hand through her hair, then gave him a hesitant smile. "So why don't we make a date of it? We can have a quiet dinner here if you want and see where things go. Maybe you can bring an overnight bag in case we both can agree on spending the night together."

"A date," he mused as he eased himself off the couch. "Been a long time for that, but I like the sound of it." John haltingly backed up towards the door. "Maybe in a few days to make sure we've had time to think about this, make sure this is what we both want."

Fuck, she'd pushed too hard without meaning to, but she thought he'd been as interested as she was. "John, I didn't mean to pressure you into anything."

He stopped. "Pressure? You didn't pressure me into anything. Just didn't want you to think I was taking advantage of you at an emotional time."

"You're hardly taking advantage of me." Since he was still standing in place, she got up and walked over to him to put her hands on his shoulders. "I really did want to kiss you after I'd gotten to know you. While it did take a bit for me to get used to the new look, I realized that you were still the man I considered my friend and wanted to be more than my friend." As he silently considered her words, she gently stroked the scar on his right cheek. "This past week, I've been trying to figure how to let you know that I've come…to care about you a great deal."

His hand came up to cover hers. "Oh, angel. Wanted something like this for so long." He lowered her hand so he could drop a light kiss in the palm. "Think I mainly need the time to realize this is real and not a dream."

"I promise, my knight, this is no dream."

"G'night Van, I'll let you know when will be a good time. I'll see you in the morning." He gave her a swift kiss, then deliberately strode to the door.

For a long moment Van hugged herself in delight. A beep from her tablet broke her out of her reverie and laughed at Lily's message. _What the hell, Vanessa? I said you needed a hobby, not me._

She was still chuckling when she went to take a cold shower to cool off her stirred up hormones.


	23. Chapter 23

_**February 26, 2035**_

 _ **08:00 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

"Morning everyone," came Van's cheerful greeting to Mission Control.

Bradford turned away from the display he was studying to return her greeting the way the rest of the staff were and froze when he met her smoky grey eyes. He'd always thought she was beautiful with her heart shaped face topped with high cheekbones and mouth that was quick to smile. This morning though…

This morning she was positively radiant. He'd never seen her this happy before. No, that wasn't right. He'd never seen her truly happy. Oh, she'd laughed and joked plenty of times, but there'd been a shadow behind that laughter.

This morning there were no shadows in her eyes and Bradford realized just how hard he'd fallen.

Somehow he managed to find his voice. "Morning, Commander. Not training today?"

"Central," she replied with smile that was for him only, causing him to instantly regret asking for time before they got intimate. If only so he could wake up to that smile. "It'll be this afternoon since it seemed like a light schedule today."

"Not a bad idea," he said as she settled in next to him as was her wont when she was in Mission Control with him. His voice dropped so the background noise of the room would let them talk somewhat privately as they reviewed their respective reports on their tablets. "The only plan was to check in with one of the newly contacted havens to see how they're doing and that'll be in a couple of hours. After that, I'm going to interview some potential recruits from that lot you brought in a few days ago. Some of them seem to have skills we can use here on the Avenger."

The dismayed expression on her face made him grin a little. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they aren't adoring fans who will hound your every step."

Van muttered. "I thought that kind of shit was the stuff of movies."

"You didn't see any of the recordings of that night?" As soon as that question came out, he realized it was a stupid one to ask. Of course she wouldn't have, she wasn't a narcissist.

"Recordings. As in multiple. Why?" That she kept her voice just as low as his somehow gave the words more weight.

"Because you were impressive as hell. And I'm not saying that as your adoring-,"he cut himself off since he wasn't quite sure if there was a neat label for the complicated relationship between them.

"Boyfriend," she supplied. She wrinkled her nose a bit. "I never did like that term. Too juvenile, but nothing else fits. The historian in me would say consort, but that's not quite right either."

He just shook his head slowly in return. Only Van would come up with something like that.

She smirked, then turned serious. "So what makes you think I was so impressive?"

"While you were a captive, you were unconscious for most of it. Those people had been in cages awaiting an unknown fate when the door blows open, unknown soldiers come tromping in and one of them pulls off your stunt."

He couldn't help the return of his grin at her disbelieving look. "I'll show you later. There might have been some cheering going on in Mission Control." Bradford couldn't quite meet her eyes. "If you want, we can make it a part of our date tonight if you're interested."

Van stilled. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." He finally let himself look at her. The way her eyes had lit up told him everything. Then she got an impish look. "There's some conditions though."

"Like what?"

"No uniforms, ties or sweaters."

"That's a deal, angel. Though I'll admit, there are times I miss that damn sweater."

"You're shitting me."

"Nope. It was warm without being too heavy." He gave her a faint grin. "Don't miss the tie though."

She snorted. "I should hope so. I know the importance of dressing professionally, but that getup you wore looked horribly uncomfortable." There was a brief hesitation. "I, ah, like your more casual look these days."

Comms tech Tucker piped up before Bradford could respond. "Commander, there's a priority communication coming in for you. It has the tag that you identified as being for the Spokesman."

"Thank you, Mister Tucker. I'll take it in my quarters."

He fell into step with her as she strode out of Mission Control. The grim shadows had fallen over her expression again. They made the short walk in silence. Bradford didn't want to try to speculate about what the man could be contacting them about and suspected Van felt the same.

All too soon they were in her quarters and the shadowy outline of the Spokesman appeared on the large monitor on her desk.

" _Hello Commander. Central. It would seem that your recent activities have gotten ADVENT's attention. Our… unwelcome guests are on the move."_

They listened in silence as the Spokesman told them about the movement of large amounts of personnel and material to different sites. Ones that sounded suspiciously like the blacksite that they had taken out almost two weeks before. How it was all part of something called Project Avatar. Something that even the Spokesman wasn't able to obtain information on beyond the basics. That they would need to use Resistance cells to help them find more sites like the first.

Van's reaction worried him the most. During the briefing she grew paler and her lips tightened so that by the time it was over, she was paler than the sheets on her bed and her mouth was a thin line.

He asked as gently as possible. "What is it, Van?"

"The term avatar. Most would be familiar with the modern term, a person using a picture of some sort to represent them online."

"And the other?"

"In older religions an avatar was a way for a god, or powerful spirit, to have some form of contact with humanity. Sometimes it was a…mental projection, like a holograph. But in some, the avatar was a human form taken over by that entity."

Bradford slowly sat down on the edge of the bed to think that over. "You think they might be trying to find a way to use humanity for something like that?"

"Yes," she said in a whisper. Then she cleared her throat and spoke in a bit more normal tone of voice. "Look at that psionic network of theirs. What if they're looking into a way of somehow plugging people into that like they did me? I can't imagine to what purpose though."

A nasty thought occurred to him. "You're thinking they want to use humans as some sort of puppet?"

She shrugged. "Sounds stupid when said out loud, but the Ethereals haven't turned us into the mindless killing machines they did the other species."

Ethereals? What the hell were those? "Ah, Ethereals?"

"Sorry, the Elders. I'm not sure why I called them that." She rubbed at the back of her head where the scar of one of the implants had been removed from her head.

He'd noticed that was a habit of hers when she was thinking about her captivity. So he asked somewhat nervously. "Is it possible that's what they were called in the simulations?"

"That's what I was trying to remember, but no luck as usual."

Personally he thought it was for the best that she didn't remember. He scrubbed his face as he thought everything over. "So we'll add this Avatar Project to our list of other objectives and set up a tracking system based off what we were given so far."

"Yes. When we check in with that haven later we'll see if they've heard anything. I suspect that vial of goo from the blacksite and the Codex brain have clues too. Which means I need to light a fire under Valley's ass since our engineers are tied up with constructing this Shadow Chamber of Tygan's. If I understood the plans correctly this should've been done by now with the assistance of the construction crew."

"You understood them just fine and there's been no reports of any setbacks."

She growled. "I should take him out in one of the carriers to test out Lily's modifications."

When he laughed, having heard the bitching from the crew that had to clean up after her passengers, she gave him a razor edged grin. "I figured that would be more effective than offering to spar with him."

"Not sure if either would work. Try just talking with him."

"You're right. I guess this latest info from the Spokesman put me more on edge than I thought. Why don't you go back to Mission Control without me? I'll come back once I give Valley sufficient reason to get his people moving."

That sounded like a recipe for potential disaster, but he couldn't keep buffering Valley from Van. "Okay. Just try not to traumatize him too much."

Her lips twitched as her eyes glinted with silent laughter. "Believe it or not, but I do know how to play with others outside of XCOM."

"I know that, but this Valley we're talking about."

"True. I promise to be good."

"All right. I'll see you later." He slowly got to his feet, and daring to take a chance, gave Van a quick kiss before heading out. She leaned into the kiss and lightly touched his face, tempting him to linger. When he stepped back, he smiled. "You're a dangerous woman, Vanessa McKenzie."

The smile she gave him made it worth it. "I'll see you in a bit, John."

Bradford couldn't help wondering if there was going to be anything left of Valley once Van got done with him. Then he got his game face on as he returned to Mission Control to add the new objective to the list, not to mention explaining the situation to Shen and Tygan. By the time he was finished, she returned looking amused.

"I take it your chat went well?"

"Yes. Though I don't think I've heard anyone use the word fuck so creatively."

His laughter didn't draw attention like it had a few weeks ago. A wicked glint entered her eyes. "We might want to record the coming visit, it sounded like he was going to literally set them on fire."

"I take it that he wasn't aware of how long this was taking?"

"That would be correct. He'd been given the impression that they were working on the comms station we've got setup for the Resistance communications."

He scowled. "You mean the one that was done a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yes," she said tightly. "I've already alerted Kelly to organize a physical sweep of the Avenger while Worley and Hause do a sweep of the computer systems. There haven't been any reports of wanderers, but I'd rather not take any chances."

For a second he was upset that she hadn't said anything right away, but then realized that was stupid since she'd already taken the actions he would have. In fact, it had been smart to start off with humor the way she had so that he wouldn't overreact. "All right, now that the morning's drama is over, shall we go over our potential recruits?"

"Sounds good."

For the next hour they went over the potential candidates, sometimes forwarding some on to Tygan or Shen. The only interruption came from Kelly to let them know that everything was clear.

By the time they were ready to contact the haven, they'd sorted through a good number of people. Most they couldn't use, but one of them was a definite if she got Tygan's approval. An actual physician would be a blessing.

"Commander, Central, we've got Haven Alpha-Seven on the line."

Central nodded. "Put them through."

A roughhewn woman with shaggy black hair in a battered green jacket appeared on the display before them. Van smiled. "Hello, I'm Vanessa McKenzie, Commander of XCOM. This is Central Officer Bradford, my second in command."

"Nice to meet you folks. Name's Alice Munroe, but call me Denmother like my people do."

"Thank you, Denmother," Van replied. "Is there anything that you need assistance with?"

"Nothing on the local comms. ADVENT's been quiet lately. I'm guessing we have you to thank for that."

He smiled. "Our pleasure, Denmother. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"We plan to." The picture developed some static. "Our water purification system –"

As the picture dissolved completely into static, Tucker spoke up. "Mssive signal coming from the ADVENT Network Tower. It's… global. Sirs, I think you'll want to see this."

The ADVENT symbol appeared on the screen then dissolved to the ADVENT Speaker. Out of the corner of his eye, Bradford saw the Commander's mouth curl into a silent snarl. They all suspected he was an alien, or possibly a hybrid, but he certainly had the oily persuasiveness of a human politician. _"Fellow citizens. For 20 years the ADVENT Coalition has worked tirelessly to repair the ravages and injustices of the old world."_

The picture changed to a montage of ADVENT forces doing supposed good works about the world as the Speaker continued. " _Under our stewardship, our cities propser, our people flour and our world heals."_

He couldn't help scowling at the lies that came pouring out of the man's mouth. Beside him Van didn't move, but he could practically feel the hate pouring off of her. The Speaker's tone turned sad and stern at the same time. _"And yet, among us, there are still those who would refuse to acknowledge the truth! Who are determined to see all that we have achieved crumble!"_

The AI sent up an alert and he turned to see three blips indicating hostiles as the AI said. "Multiple radar contacts on approach to Haven Alpha-Seven."

Central turned back to see the Speaker growl. _"That must end. Even as I speak to you today, ADVENT peacekeepers are advancing into the outlying territories…"_

Behind him he could hear the Commander starting to bark orders to Firebrand to prep the skyranger and for Shieldmaiden to get Menace 1-5 assembled. Tucker was already trying to get Denmother back and he hoped she was getting his warning. "You've got incoming on approach!"

" _Losing"_ crackle of static. _"Avenger"_

"They're right on top of you!" He snarled at the staff around him. "Raise them again!"

In the background the Speaker said reassuringly. _"We will ensure your continued safety and well-being throughout this crisis."_

There was a horrifying image of ADVENT dropships delivering troops who landed firing on anyone around them while gunships fired on the shanty town before the connection was completely severed.

"Our response is already on the way, Central," The Commander said quietly. Eyes that were almost silver turned on the frozen image of the Speaker. "I swear by everything holy, they will all pay for this and every other atrocity. Even if I have to do it with my bare hands with one enemy at a time."


	24. Chapter 24

_**February 26, 2035**_

 _ **10:02 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance Headquarters**_

" _Shieldmaiden, I need Menace 1-5 to be on Firebrand as of yesterday!"_

Jane found herself on her feet and yelling for the others to fall in before it even registered that she didn't know what was going on since there weren't any missions planned for at least another day or two. "Commander, what's happening?"

" _I'll explain once you're en route."_ Jane blinked. She'd never heard the Commander that angry before.

Thankfully the rest of the squad prepped quickly without asking any questions. In maybe five minutes of the Commander's order they were ready and boarding Firebrand. Jane couldn't remember seeing the skyranger ever cold prepped like this.

They were just getting into the air when the Commander came back on the comms. The fury in the woman's voice was terrifying and for a moment Shieldmaiden wished they had brought Athena with them. It would be amazing to see what she'd be like on the battlefield in that kind of state of mind. _"All right Menace 1-5, this is the situation. ADVENT has attacked one of the Resistance havens. I'm sending you in hot to rescue who you can. In the process I want you to eliminate all ADVENT forces present. If there are any Resistance forces still fighting I want you to try to organize their defense. "_

"Yes, ma'am." This was certainly one way to test the new armor that the Chief had made for them out of the ADVENT stuff they'd gotten a few days ago.

Brandt was uncommonly subdued as he asked, "The havens, they're mostly civilians right?"

"Yeah," Slinger said unhappily. The normally quiet sniper seemed upset enough to actually talk. "Usually the fighters' families."

Cyber scowled. "Shit. There's kids then?"

Slinger just nodded.

Firebrand's voice came on over the intercom, _"All right folks, you'll have your chance to kick ADVENT ass in five minutes. And no, we can't go any faster, I've got her going as fast as possible."_

"Thanks, Firebrand," Jane replied.

Anger filled the compartment as they did their standard final check on their gear. It was one thing for the aliens to attack them or the Resistance Fighters. It was quite another for them to go after people who couldn't protect themselves.

The last few minutes before the drop felt like an eternity.

Just before it was time to drop, Shieldmaiden said, "Remember we're here mainly as a rescue mission. I'm pissed like hell like the rest of you, but we gotta keep our heads clear."

There were quiet murmurs of agreement. Then it was go time.

Even before her boots hit the ground, Shieldmaiden was struck by the sounds of screams mixed with gunfire, the smell of burnt flesh mingled with smoke from burning buildings. It was probably the worst scene she'd encountered in her life and there had been some awful moments in her time in XCOM.

She landed on something that gave way with a sickening crunch. Hoping to save those still living, she didn't look at what she landed in because she suspected if she stopped, she wouldn't be able to keep going. There were quiet sounds of distress around her, but the rest of the squad got themselves under some semblance of control.

Up until now, the only time Shieldmaiden had seen battle was against aliens or ADVENT troops. Whatever squad she was a part of had been careful not to target civilians.

That the aliens did the same was probably more happenstance than purpose.

The rest of the squad advanced at her gesture and Bird dog subvocalized into his mic. "Deploying gremlin scan."

He shook his head. "Got a couple of contacts nearby, but there's too many fires scattered around the area to get a good picture."

" _All right, proceed with caution,"_ the Commander said over the comms.

Menace 1-5 walked into hell.

It wasn't just the burning buildings they had to be wary of. There were containers of fuel, loose ammo and other unknown objects that had a tendency to explode in the presence of fire.

Then there were all the bodies, too many of which were less than half the size of an adult.

So when they finally encountered their first cluster of ADVENT, an officer with three troopers, surrounding a man trying to shield a little girl with his body.

They went collectively insane. Shieldmaiden found herself charging in with Brandt, their swords reflecting the fires that raged around them, yelling profanities. The officer jerked around, but lost its head to her sword before it had a chance to bark out orders. Brandt took out one of the troopers as the remaining two went down in a hail of gunfire.

The man stared at them fearfully.

"You're safe now." She pointed in the direction of the skyranger. "If you go that way, you'll find our ship where you can remain protected."

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and scooped up the little girl. As he headed off toward Firebrand, the little girl stared at them with wide eyes over his shoulder. Shieldmaiden managed to muster up a smile at the girl, who returned the smile.

She hoped the child wouldn't be too traumatized by this.

" _Jane,"_ the Commander said over a private line. That she used Shieldmaiden's first name was as shocking as if she'd dunked the soldier into ice cold water. _"I know this is a horrible situation, but I need you to keep control so you can keep the others steady until I can get there."_

"Sorry, Commander."

" _Don't be. We'll talk about this later."_

"Yes, ma'am."

Despite the various stenches on the air, Shieldmaiden drew a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning to the rest of the squad. Except for Slinger, the lot of them were still wild eyed.

"All right people! This is just another mission, so settle down. If we freak, we can't save these people."

None of them met each other's eyes, but there were nervous bobs of heads that she would take for agreement. Though she worried this might lead to fractures in what had become a close knit team.

" _Menace 1-5,"_ Commander McKenzie said over the squad comms. _"I know this is nothing like what you're used to, but you can do this. Just focus on my voice if that helps."_

Somehow she kept up a rambling monologue that kept them focused and together, even when she was issuing orders in between awful puns or gallows humor. Just as importantly, the Commander kept the unit glued together.

The next couple of groups of enemies were easily enough dispatched. It was the fourth unit that things started going downhill.

It was a unit comprised of three vipers. True to their nature they lashed out with their tongues in an attempt to grab people rather than using the perfectly good weapons they were carrying. Two of them lashed out at Defcon and Cyber, both of whom just ducked away from the grasping organs. The third managed to grab Brandt from the cover he'd taken.

Unfortunately for the reptilian alien, Brandt still had his sword in hand. So when it yanked him, he arrived point first into the creature's head. As he rolled away from the corpse, one of the aliens fired its plasma rifle at him and missed. The other spat out a cloud of poison that he ended up running through. Coughing and choking, he dove behind the burnt out shell of a car.

For some reason the two aliens seemed fixated on Brandt, making them easy targets for the rest of the squad. Slinger took one out as it lashed out its tongue to try to grab Brandt while Defcon shredded the spitter before it could do anything else.

Making sure to avoid the cloud of poison hanging in the air, Shieldmaiden went to check up on him. He waved her off. "I'm fine, Shield."

She didn't miss the drops of blood on his lips though, so she fell into place next to Cyber as they continued on. He gave her a sidelong smile and said quietly. "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on him."

"Thanks, Cyber."

"It's what I'm here for. S'long as he doesn't get stupid, he'll live."

"Right." She raised her voice. "Brandt, take the trail."

That he didn't argue told her just what kind of shape he was in. Distracted by her concern she didn't notice the approach of the ragged clump of humans until Bird dog raised his hand in greeting and said, "Hey guys."

One of the men in the front screamed and opened fire with the assault rifle he was carrying. They were caught off-guard by the attack. Since the man's aim was so erratic he completely missed Bird dog, but managed to clip Cyber.

The real problem stemmed from his buddies opening up with him.

Most of them dove out of the way, but Brandt was slowed down by his previous injuries and Defcon by her weapon so they got the brunt of the damage. The two went down in a welter of blood, but her Heads Up Display notified her that they were still barely alive. Though not for long if Cyber couldn't get to them.

Furious, she screamed out. "Hey assholes! We're on your side!"

There was incoherent yelling from behind the idiots, but they didn't stop shooting until they ran out of ammo. Cyber immediately ran to work on the two fallen soldiers with Bird dog's assistance.

Slinger sighted down her rifle at the idiots and coldly said, "On your word, Commander."

There was an ominous silence over the comms from the Commander's end, until there was the tortured squeal of metal getting mutilated. There may have been some grinding of teeth before she replied, _"Not. Yet."_

The fury in the Commander's voice

Jane wasn't able to hold back her anger as she advanced on the people they were supposed to be saving so when she got to them, she hauled off and applied the butt of her shotgun to his face. Hard. The other two started to reload their weapons, but they weren't very practiced at it, so she knocked them out too. Then she leveled her gun at the rest of the small mob that stared at her with wide eyes.

A woman with ragged hair, her features indistinguishable due to the soot covering her, elbowed her way out of the crowd, she stood arms akimbo and stared down at the unconscious men.

Central spoke over the comms, _"Good, that's Denmother, the leader of this cell. Hopefully she'll get her people sorted out."_

"Where's the Commander?"

" _Since we're not picking up any further hostiles at this time, there's something else she's taking care of."_

That didn't sound good. Instead of trying to figure out what Commander McKenzie was up to, she turned her attention to Denmother. "I'm told you're Denmother? I'm Shieldmaiden from XCOM."

Denmother sighed and nodded. "I figured that. Sorry about your people. I'd offer to help them, but…"

"Yeah. I know." Realizing she still had her gun readied, Shieldmaiden let the gun slide down to her side on its sling. Now that the tension was gone, she felt exhausted and drained in a way a normal mission never did. "We are still here to help get you out of here. Is this all of your people? There's a few others we sent to our ship."

It was hard to tell with the grime, but Denmother seemed grimmer. "No. I think there's a few more that aren't accounted for if you don't mind doing a sweep. I can have some of my more reliable people carry your wounded out of here."

She scowled down at the unconscious men before her. "I should leave them here since they always were loose cannons."

Central spoke up. _"Let her know that she can bring them along. We'll give them to Valley to deal with them."_

After she relayed the message, Denmother gave a brief, vicious smile. "Yes, Valley knows how to make people repent their transgressions. Some hard physical labor will make them think long and hard over their stupidity."

Cyber straightened up. "All right, got them stable for now. As long as the carriers are careful, it'll be safe to transport them."

"We can make stretchers," Denmother said decisively. "Go check on the rest of our people."

The fires were starting to die down as they made the sweep through the area. At first Shieldmaiden thought that there wasn't anyone else to find until movement caught her attention. A man was huddled at the base of a tree against the wall of a partially destroyed shack. There was something…off about the way he looked at them.

Her squadmates looked at the man, then at her. Mentally sighing to herself, she approached the man with her hands out to show that she wasn't a threat. "Hey, it's okay. We're here to get you out of here."

He made a low groan, then spasmed. Thinking he was having a seizure of some sort, she started to turn to Cyber when the man go to his feet. There was a horrible ripping sound as his flesh flowed like molten wax and boiled upward.

The towering abomination lashed out at her with ridiculously long arms that had hands ending in claws almost as long as her forearm. She threw herself backwards in order to avoid the attack, but it managed to graze her. Even the slight attack was powerful enough to send her flying into something hard then into blackness.

Sometime later she woke up with an aching head with Cyber putting something away in his medkit. The newest type of monster lay on the ground and it looked like it might be dissolving. She shuddered, then reflexively checked on her squad. The combat medic gave her a lopsided smile. "We're all right, it doesn't move that fast."

He held out a hand to her, which she gratefully accepted. Cyber commented as he hauled her to her feet. "Upsy daisy!"

The rest of her body protested the movement and she had a feeling she was going to be taken off the duty roster for a bit. It felt like she was one giant bruise from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, but she had a mission to see through. "Bird dog, can you give me another scan?"

"Already done, not picking up anything else."

"Right, let's go find Denmother and let her know." She began to limp in the direction of Firebrand. "Hey Central, I think there's too many people to pack into the skyranger with the wounded."

" _That's being taken care of, Shieldmaiden. Just rendezvous with the others at Firebrand."_

"Roger."

"Um, Shield, I think we may have a problem," Bird dog said nervously.

"What is it?"

He moved next to her to show her the display on his tablet. On it appeared to be a small convoy of ADVENT vehicles. She didn't need to see the upside down pentagonal badge with the words Vigilo Confido to know who was on the way. The way the lead vehicle was being driven told her everything she needed to know. "It's okay Bird, that's our cavalry."

"How are you so sure?"

She snorted as she tried to pick up the pace. "C'mon, you've seen Athena's driving. You think ADVENT is going to let any of their people drive so, um, creatively?"

He laughed. "You've got a point there. I think I know which vehicle the idiots are going to be in."

They quietly chuckled at his quip.

Once they quieted she could hear the sound of vehicles approaching them and gestured for them to stop. The ranger wondered what poor soul got the punishment duty of riding with the Commander. She had to give credit to Athena for managing to stop the carrier in front of her without sending anything flying at her.

The passenger door popped open and Central asked. "Anyone want a ride?"

She gaped him in surprise. They were both out in the field together? Granted there weren't any further enemies in the area, they were armed and armored, plus they were probably the best fighters they had. But the risk…

Then Central was standing in front of her. "Commander wants to talk with you."

Bracing herself for a well-deserved chewing out for how the mission went, Shieldmaiden climbed into the passenger's seat.

Athena was quiet as Shieldmaiden got settled in, then got the vehicle moving at a surprisingly easy pace. "I want to apologize to you, Shieldmaiden."

That was the last thing she expected to hear. "What for?"

"For not preparing you and the other troops well enough to deal with a situation like this."

"Ma'am, we're soldiers, we should be able to handle whatever is thrown at us."

The Commander shook her head slightly. "You and the other troops are good and getting better every day, but you haven't really had the kind of training I saw before. I never thought about how you would deal with a situation like this."

"You make it sound like this has happened before."

The other woman's hands tightened on the steering wheel causing a faint creek of plastic and Athena loosened her grip. "Yes. During the invasion every few weeks the aliens would choose a major city at random and bomb the shit out of one section of the city and send in shock troops to terrorize the survivors before killing them."

Shieldmaiden was stunned. Not at the aliens' brutality, but the fact that so many people accepted ADVENT's rule over the world. Christ, was this some of the shit her Da had been trying to train to deal with? "And the soldiers then didn't have problems like that?"

"A good number of them were veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. They might not have been used to the scale the aliens were operating at, but the horrors were similar. In a way it was easier, they weren't fighting their own kind."

"So now that they've started, they're going to do something like this again?"

"Unfortunately. I just don't know what kind of timetable they'll use for this. Probably depends on whatever infiltrators they're able to get into the different cells."

"Like that shapeshifting thing."

"Yes. That was a nasty surprise. I was told there were rumors about things like that, but you know how unreliable rumors can be."

"Yeah. Commander, I'm sorry for losing control like I did earlier. It won't happen again." Now that everything was over, she was embarrassed with the whole thing.

"No need for it, those morons shouldn't have attacked like they did. I was pretty impressed that you didn't kill them. I may have if I were in that situation."

So she wasn't even going to address the first time? Well, in a way she already had, but still.

"Shieldmaiden, there's some things you're going to chastise yourself worse than I ever could."

She wondered if the Commander could read minds. It wouldn't surprise her if that was the case considering everything else that the woman could do. If so, it made her glad that Vanessa McKenzie was on their side. It would also likely send Jimmy into paroxysms of joy at the fact their leader was truly superhuman.

"Was there anything you wanted to discuss with me?" Athena asked.

Frowning a little, Jane thought that over and couldn't imagine what she'd need to talk about. "Nothing I can think of."

"All right, if you do need to talk with me, let me know. And I think you might want to get out of this vehicle." A truly evil smile blossomed on her face. "I get to drive the morons to the Avenger."

"In that case, ma'am, I think I'll stay here if you don't mind. It'll be worth the jostling."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Athena…I've seen you drive before, there's no buildings to drive through."

The Commander laughed then exited the carrier to finish making arrangements. And the drive back was rough, but nothing like what it had been when they first got these vehicles.

It wasn't until much later that she heard about the Commander crumpling one of the handrails around the holographic globe when Jane had heard that weird metallic squeal. Yes, she was very glad the Commander was on their side.

And wondered if there might not be a way for some of that tampering could be done to her and the other soldiers.


	25. Chapter 25

_(Author's note: I'm so very sorry about the length of time between updates. I had a bit of a medical emergency that proved to be minor, but still caused some issues. For those who asked, I have indeed played Alien Hunters and it fits in very neatly with my plans for this story.)_

 _ **March 1, 2035**_

 _ **18:50 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance Headquarters**_

It was stupid to get so flustered over the prospect of a date, Van thought to herself. She'd been on plenty of dates before. Of course, that was objectively twenty-five years ago now, though subjectively it was only five. Still. Plenty of dates, none of which had made her nervous in the past. So it shouldn't feel like she had butterflies the size of eagles flying about in her gut. What probably didn't help was postponing it, but there more important things such as seeing to her wounded and getting the refugees settled in other places.

Trying not to dwell on the past few days, Van stood in front of the mirror on the back of her bathroom door and glowered at herself for the nerves. She'd decided on this lovely red sundress with halter straps, a sweetheart neckline, and a lightly embroidered bodice that ended in a loose, floaty skirt that went to her ankles. Somehow she'd even managed to make a respectable bow out of the tie on the back that helped the bodice hug her torso. She hadn't expected the color to look good on her, but it did.

It probably helped that she no longer had that pasty appearance anymore. Amazing what regular exercise combined with alien technology could do. She wasn't a vain woman by nature, but she couldn't resist taking a moment to admire her appearance in the mirror.

She really did like how the color of the dress brought out the red highlights in her hair.

Then her nerves surged again.

Of course this date was not quite like previous ones. John actually mattered to her. A great deal more than she was ready to admit to anyone, even to herself. It wasn't even that they worked together. Considering what life was like now, that was kind of a moot point.

No, it was the fact that even though they had almost nothing in common, she felt a… click with him the way she'd never felt with anyone else.

Realizing the time, she hastily dabbed on a judicious amount of scented oil then slid on the flats she'd found that went with the dress. There was no way she was going to wear heels with the way the flooring was in the Avenger. That would be asking for a broken ankle at the very least.

She stepped out into the main room and surveyed it. The lighting was dimmed to inspire romance, but not so dim as to make the room seem like a cave. Since she didn't have the room for a decent sized table and chair set, and really trying to find one for two was greatly impractical, she'd done some rearranging. She'd managed to move one of the couches off to the side so that they could easily see the large monitor that was currently displaying a crackling fire in a fireplace.

The temperature of the room had already been adjusted to be a bit warmer. Hopefully it was a good

compromise between their comfort zones.

Placing one hand over her stomach, she irritably told herself to calm down, before turning on some quiet classical music to add to the ambiance. She was pleased with how it looked and hoped that John would see it the same way she did.

The door buzzer sounded.

Swallowing back her nausea, Van made sure it was John before opening the door with a nervous smile. "Good evening."

John's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly when he got a good look at her as he stepped in. He didn't say anything right away as he dropped the small bag he was carrying and the door whooshed shut behind him. His voice was thick as he said. "My god, Vanessa. You're gorgeous."

When he looked at her like that, she did feel that way. She smiled back at him. "And you look incredibly dashing."

And he did, since he he'd gone completely clean shaven and dressed in a buttoned, short sleeved white shirt tucked into belted khakis. Both the shirt and pants had the crisp lines of freshly pressed clothing. The shirt did a fine job of defining of what kind of shape he was in. She had a good idea, especially after him hauling her over his shoulder in that stasis suit.

But actually _seeing_ the lean, hard physique was something else.

When Van stepped up to him, he pulled her tight against him and gave her a hot, hungry kiss which she eagerly returned. After the kiss ended she slowly trailed soft kisses from his lips to his jaw down to his neck. Whatever aftershave or cologne he used that blended enticingly with his natural scent to draw her in. While his hands slowly roamed down her back, she slid her hands down from his shoulders so she could work on opening the top button of his shirt.

John's breathing sharpened as she finally opened the button and let her kisses drift down to the now exposed skin where his neck and chest met. He had to clear his throat a few times before he could say anything "Maybe eat later?"

She smiled against his skin and began to work on the next button. "Yes."

Except her stomach had other ideas since it gurgled. Loudly. Then his responded even louder. She couldn't help laughing ruefully. "I guess it is dinner first after all."

There was a similar chuckle from John. "Guess our bodies know what they want first."

"True and it would be a shame to let dinner get cold after all the work Cookie put into it."

He froze in the process of getting his bag, slowly straightened up to stare at her.

"I asked for dinner to be set aside for us tonight because we had some sensitive matters to discuss in private, nothing new. It may have only been a month for me, but we've had private conferences, even over dinner more than once."

Shaking his head slightly, he leaned over to grab his bag and straightened up to peer over the back of the couch to look at the covered dishes on the table. "Looks like she had other ideas."

"Yeah. I promise I haven't said anything, but what showed up wasn't just servings of the general mess."

"Van," he said with a smile. "We haven't exactly been as discrete as we probably should've been and given the events of the last three days, it's not likely we'd be working on something sensitive."

She snorted as she went around the couch. "I'm pretty sure we've had private discussions after other missions."

There was an eloquent silence behind her before John set his bag off to the side where it would be out of the way. He strolled around the couch, accepted the empty plate she handed him and started looking under the covers. He shook his head, but there was a faint hint of another smile. "Yep, Cookie knew something was up. Looks like she made some of my favorites as finger food. Suspect the rest is yours."

That hadn't escaped her notice when she set up the table. Hoping that this didn't put a damper on things, she said, "I guess I wasn't as subtle as I thought I was when I set this up."

"Angel, you're subtle when you need to be." He shrugged with one shoulder. "Sides, I probably didn't help showing up dressed like this and carrying a bag."

Van stopped filling her plate and couldn't hide the dismay that suddenly welled up in her as she straightened up. "Oh no. They still put a guard out there tonight? I thought I said everyone was to get a break."

Amusement lit up his face. "Your orders were that over the next two days everyone was to get at least one of the two as a break. Even if Kelly is on the injured list, she's more than capable of working out a schedule to fit your orders."

Her own sense of humor for the ridiculous came bubbling up and she finished selecting her food with a smile. Sitting down on the couch, she asked, "So who was it out there and do you think they won whatever betting pool they had on us?"

While her troops might not have the benefits of the kind of training that used to be available to the original lot, they were very perceptive. She had a feeling Kelly and Harkes at least had twigged to what was going on.

John grinned as he settled next to her. "Worley, he seemed pretty deflated, so I'd say he lost."

She grinned back, then ate in silence for a time. It felt strange, yet right, to be sitting so companionably next to him. They'd eaten a lot of meals in the past, but before the fall of the old HQ it had been as the leaders of XCOM. Since her retrieval, there'd been a few times it was as friends. Eating dinner with him as potential lover made things different.

"So, did you want to do anything with our date night?" He asked curiously.

"I was hoping to get to know each other better." She wrinkled her nose at the look he gave her. "Not just physically."

The look turned puzzled. "Thought we knew each other pretty well by now?"

"We do to a degree, but I want to know the little details about John Bradford, not Central Officer Bradford. I also suspect that you probably know more about me than I do about you."

He thought that over. "You're probably right. So what did you want to know?"

"Let's start with something easy," she smiled at his suspicious look. "I mean it. Why did you join the military?"

John blinked at her. Van gave him a sunny smile in return which caused him to chuckle. "Didn't expect that easy. Anyway. Military service runs in both sides of my family. Probably have at least one member in each branch. Tried the college thing." He did a dismissive roll of a shoulder. At a little more. "Folks wanted me to do something other than being a grunt, but it just didn't work. So I went for the branch that had the fewest members." Now he gave her a sly smile. "Couldn't see myself as a seadog."

She nodded, to be honest she couldn't really see him as a sailor either.

He took a bite of food and after chewing, asked, "There is one thing that I've always wondered about."

"Only one thing?" Van asked amusedly with an arch of a brow.

"There is more, but one thing in particular I've always wanted to ask about. Just where did you learn your leadership skills? You showed good solid ones at Foresight from the beginning, so that wasn't it."

That didn't surprise her, most people discounted where she learned a lot of valuable skills. "I guess you didn't take a look at my hobbies."

He shook his head in confusion. "Your love of sci-fi was one of the reasons you were offered your initial position besides your education, but," he stopped before he dug himself into a hole.

Since this was supposed to be a date, she let him off the hook with a smile. "It was from playing World of Warcraft. I started it day of release, found myself in a raid progression guild which led to me ending up as one of the raid leaders. There's nothing quite like leading a forty man raid where the other thirty nine people are all firmly convinced they can lead the raid better than you."

Van took a sip of her iced tea while he mulled that over. "So dealing with soldiers is _easy_. They'll follow orders as long as they're reasonably intelligent. And getting a squad of four to eight moving? Cake, because due to inclination and training they're willing to work together to achieve their objectives. Trying to get 40 gamers going in the same direction is worse than herding the same number of cats."

Then she turned serious. "Don't worry, I've never once considered my time with XCOM as any kind of game."

He glared at her. "Christ, Vanessa. That's what you think went through my head just now?"

"Maybe? The look on your face just now…"

John shook his head. "Actually, was thinking over what kind of nightmare that must have been to organize."

"At first it was so bad it was funny. Then as time went on we started to work together better. At first I thought it taught me the patience I needed to teach History 101 to the idiot freshmen when I hit graduate school."

"But you learned more than that. Bet you were one of the leaders of your guild in general too."

She gave him a sideways glance. "Maaaaybe."

He laughed and she grinned in return. "Since we're on the subject of hobbies, what are yours?"

"Nothing quite as dramatic as yours, but I do enjoy card games of all types, reading westerns, the odd bad action flick."

"If you don't mind some oldies to you, I have a good number of movies on my recovered drive. Maybe we can have a movie night some time."

"Unless you have something planned for your rest day tomorrow, maybe we can make it a movie day." He peered at her suspiciously. "You were going to follow your own orders and take a break tomorrow, right? I know you were busy all day today."

As much as her conscience would allow her, but even her conscience agreed that a day spent with her boyfriend sounded much more interesting. He shook his head at the undoubtedly guilty look on her face. Before he could say anything, she said, "I would like to spend the day with you, it doesn't have to be movies."

Her nerves returned, prompting her to add. "That is, if you're sure you want to spend the day."

John collected her empty plate, added it to his, and then placed them on the table among the debris of their meal. He moved in to run a hand along her face, she closed her eyes to lean into his touch and felt the briefest brush of his lips against hers. "Of course I want to spend the day with you, angel. I should be the one asking if you really want to spend this time with an old man."

Van reopened her eyes to glare at him. "Stop that about being old. I don't have a problem with your age, but if you have a problem with it, or anything else, tell me now before we go too far for regrets."

"Nothing like that. Just worried that you feet pressured."

This time she leaned in to kiss him, but a little firmer than his. She murmured against his mouth. "Does this feel like I'm being pressured?"

His breathing grew slightly ragged. "No."

She moved back a little so she could look him in his eyes. "I don't want you to feel pressured, considering how you felt for me all these years. What our positions are like in XCOM."

"No pressure from you or our positions. Pressure from myself, yes. Won't deny wanted this for a long time."

"Good." Now she let the smile form. "When I first met you, I found you very attractive, but knew the fraternization would cause issues. So I figured once things were resolved, I might talk you into vacationing at a tropical resort to recover. Well, things didn't turn out quite like I expected, but I figure tonight and tomorrow, maybe we can have a little of that time."

John got back to his feet and held out a hand to her. "In that case, would you like to dance?"

"I'll warn you I have two left feet when it comes to anything like that," she replied with a smile even as she accepted the hand up.

Leading her over to the empty area her rearrangements had left, he said dubiously. "Uh huh. I've heard about your stunts in unarmed training."

She laughed. "As if that's any kind of proof of grace. I generally just bull my way through."

"Mm," was the noncommittal reply as he placed her left hand on his shoulder before taking her right hand in his left. Then he placed his right hand on her back before sliding it down just above her rear. With deft touches he guided her through a slow waltz.

There really was something to dancing with a partner who knew what he was doing. Van found herself intensely aware of not just her body, but his as well, particularly with the placement of his hand that was pleasantly warm through her dress. Since it seemed like she wasn't going to step on his feet, she let herself relax and enjoy.

"Good," he murmured. "Like that, angel. Just move with me."

"You left this out of your list of hobbies." She tried to keep her tone light since she never expected this out of him.

He chuckled quietly, pulling her just a little closer. "Not exactly a hobby. Dancing was something dad suggest I learn when I was in my teens."

"Make it easier to pick up the girls?" She asked laughingly.

"Something like that." A hint of mischief filled his eyes. "Let's try a faster dance than this."

"Hope you're not overestimating your ability to teach and my ability to move that well."

The only response that got was a quiet laugh as he went to the secondary display to change the music to something a little livelier. Suddenly she was very glad for the flats, trying any of this in heels would have been incredibly bad and she didn't want to find out how quickly a broken ankle would heal. Her nerves jangled for a moment, but there was a pleasant buzz there too.

When he turned back to her with that heat in his eyes and answering heat shot through her system as she smilingly walked over to meet him halfway. This time he held her closer, maybe a little closer than the dance called for, but she certainly wasn't going to complain. Confident that he at least knew what he was doing, she reveled in feeling that rangy, muscled body against hers.

Until he sent her spinning with the skirt of her dress flying around her.

She found herself laughing as he reeled her in so that her back was against his chest, his hand holding hers so that her arm crossed her chest and his free hand around her waist. He brushed his lips along her neck causing her breath to catch in her throat as a pleasant flutter started low in her stomach. He rumbled. "Gonna have to teach you the tango sometime."

"Whoa, don't get ahead of yourself there." Though the prospect wasn't as scary as it would have been a few minutes ago.

He didn't say anything, but spun her out again. This time she was ready for it and went along with movement, deliberately swirling the dress to flash him a hint of her legs.

Pleasure mixed with heat lit up his expression. "Oh yes. Definitely need to teach you the tango."

This time she didn't argue. In fact, she was a little curious to see if she could learn. Then a thought struck her. "How's your leg holding up?"

"Just fine. Can dance all night with you, Van."

A double entendre was the last thing she expected out of John of all people. The man was normally bluntly straightforward. As if he could sense her thoughts he gave her a small pleased grin.

"I stepped into that one, didn't I?"

"Maybe a little bit."

They shared a quiet laugh and continued dancing together for a time, moving closer and closer together. Until by mutual, silent, consent they stopped moving.

John kept his hand at her back, but freed his other hand to lightly skim the backs of his fingers along her cheek, down her neck and along her shoulder, pausing at the strap of her dress. Smiling, Van breathed. "Yes."

He kissed her slowly as he slid the strap down, then let her go enough for her to pull her arm out all the way, his eyes widening a little at the bare flesh that was revealed. Taking advantage of his surprise, she started to finish unbuttoning his shirt.

"So what happens if the tie back here gets undone?" He asked as he caressed up her back to the tie.

Her smile turned vulpine. "Why don't you untie it to find out?"

"Don't think I'm quite ready for that." Instead he nuzzled into the crook of her neck and shoulder. She tilted her head to the side to give him better access. Her breath and heartbeat starting to speed up as he leisurely kissed his way down to, then along her chest just above her breasts and back up to the other side of her neck.

He lifted his head up and smiled at her. Caressing her face again, he asked with mock innocence. "Feeling a bit warm, angel?"

"Maybe a little bit." She was quite pleased that her hands were steady as she undid the last of the buttons on his shirt and slipped her hands inside to stroke up from his stomach to his chest, enjoying the way his muscles quivered under her touch.

With a quick shrug, he discarded the shirt and she stepped back a bit to enjoy the view. Even though his skin was riddled with scars, and his chest hair was more salt and pepper than brown, he was as in good physical shape as she thought. Certainly much better than any other man she'd been involved with.

John Bradford looked like the lifelong soldier she knew him to be and had a hard time believing that he had a drinking problem. Every drunk she'd known in the past didn't have that kind of muscle definition.

He raised his eyebrows. "See something you like?"

"Oh, yes," she replied as moved back in and went to kiss him, sliding her hands around him and up his back.

He whispered her name like a prayer as she continued to kiss down his throat to his chest. She paused for a moment, with her face buried against his chest to learn about his body the way she hadn't wanted to with anyone else before him. She drew in the scent of him, the taste of his skin against her lips, the feel of his heart pounding in his chest under the slightly scratchy yet ticklish feeling caused by the hair on top. Then she resumed going down along the "treasure trail" of hair that flowed down his chest to his abdomen.

"Vanessa." The strangled sound of his voice made her look up in concern from where she was starting to unbuckle the belt holding his pants in place. "Not…yet.' He coughed a little. "Not sure if I'll be good for more than one go."

That was the last reaction she'd anticipated and was at a loss for what to do next. John reached down to pull her up against him and kiss her thoroughly. He smiled at her breathlessness. "Let's see what happens when that tie gets undone."

She hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed.

There was a tug at her back, then she felt the dress loosen. He made a thoughtful sound before gently tugging on the remaining shoulder strap. She let it slip down her arm and with it the dress down her body, leaving her only in her strapless bra and panties after she carefully slipped her feet out of her shoes.

He stepped back a bit to take her in. The look of admiration made her flush from head to toe. "My god, Van, you're beautiful."

"Thank you." She delicately stepped away from the dress to the man who was still gazing reverently at her, including her face, not just her body. He wrapped his arms around her and she felt a sharp poke in her stomach causing her to yelp and step back. Rubbing the fading welt she said at his confusion, "Your belt buckle bites."

"Damn. Sorry about that, angel." He undid his belt and started to pull it out of the belt loops, paused, unbuttoned his pants, let them drop, then kicked off his shoes and socks, leaving only his briefs on. There was very little left to the imagination and she couldn't help her own admiring look.

They were going to have a little chat about the recently healed, shiny pink scar in his right leg at some point. She knew what a newly healed bullet wound looked like and there was only one mission he'd been on in the last month or so.

Unwilling to put a damper on the evening, Van shoved the thought away and moved up to him. This time there wasn't anything to get in the way of their bodies molding together as hands and mouths explored one another. God, he felt so good, she thought.

John slid his hands up her back to the hooks of her bra as she nuzzling his neck again and managed to unhook it without too much effort. It required no effort on her part to let it fall away before pressing back up against him. Her nipples had already been hard from arousal and now they both ached and felt relief from rubbing against him.

So when he slid his hands down to her butt and gently squeezed she wasn't surprised. She didn't expect him to say. "Might want to hold on, angel."

All she could get out was a squeak of surprise when he scooped her up. In the effort to keep them from unbalancing, she followed his direction by wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. His eyes were bright with amusement and he adjusted his hands so that he was supporting her by her thighs.

It didn't take long for him to walk over to the bed, even holding onto Van, but he was chuckling quietly by the time he laid her down. "Didn't expect that?"

"Not at all."

"Good." He leaned over to kiss her while he cupped one breast and slowly rubbed the nipple, the other hand to brace him. For a time her higher mental functions blurred from the pleasure his touch brought her.

"John," she whispered once he lifted his mouth from hers, her body becoming one ache of need. "Please don't tease."

He slowly circled around the bed to climb on the bed next to her. "Not teasing, sweetheart. Explain later. Just…enjoy."

At her confused nod, he stroked a hand along her face, over her throat, along her chest between her breasts, over her stomach to the edge of her panties. She nodded at his questioning look. He hooked two fingers under the band and pulled down as she arched up her hips to help with the removal.

After he tossed the garment to the side, he surveyed her from head to toe and back. There was a slight tremor in his hand as he reached out to touch her again and she barely heard him say. "So beautiful."

She felt oddly vulnerable laid out like she was before him.

He skimmed over her stomach down to curls of hair between her legs then slid two fingers inside her folds and his thumb on her nub. Before she completely lost her mind, she fisted her hands in the covers rather than risk hurting him with her recently developed strength. It didn't take long for him to get her to come, between wanting him from the moment he walked through the door and quite frankly it being some time since she'd had sex.

While she tried to catch her breath and get her brain working again, John sprawled out next to her, slowly stroking her side. "Good?"

She nodded, not quite ready to speak and a little surprised to realize that she was still ready for more. A lot more.

"Let's see what that enhanced endurance of yours can handle," he said with a grin.

Van blinked and finally managed to speak. "John, this doesn't seem fair to you."

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're doing all the work."

He laughed. "Ah, angel. This is far from work."

By the time he let her remove his briefs to show just how ready he was for her, he'd shown her just what kind of endurance she had.

When he finally slid into her, he felt _fantastic_. "Yessss."

He grinned and began with slow, lazy thrusts that quickly turned hard and fast. This time she felt like she was falling off the edge of the world when her orgasm rolled over her and John's cry as he came seemed to be a long distance away.

Instead of collapsing on her, or to the side, he somehow managed to find the will to slowly lower himself down. He carefully balanced himself so that he was resting on her without feeling she was being crushed and rested his head between her breasts with a contented sigh.

With a contented sigh of her own, she ran her fingers through his sweat soaked hair and wrapped a leg around his and drifted off.


	26. Chapter 26

_**March 2, 2035**_

 _ **Unknown Time**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

The desperate need to take a piss woke Bradford from one of the best night's sleep he'd had in years.

He started to roll out of bed and stopped. This wasn't his bed and there was someone else in the bed next to him. For the barest moment, panic seized him. He hadn't had any booze in months, and he didn't feel drunk, so why was he in a strange bed? The dimly lit room seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it right away.

A sleepy murmur and a shock of auburn hair woke up his brain enough to remind him of the actual events of the night before, same night? He wasn't sure and Van had hidden her time display, but it felt like it was either very late or early, depending on a person's perspective.

It was funny to see that she was covered only by a sheet and she'd tossed the blanket from her side on him.

There was another quiet sound from her direction, but he could see she was still asleep when she snuggled up against him. Bradford draped an arm around her to hold that long, lean body against him.

Unfortunately, the urge to piss grew even stronger.

Since he wasn't the stealthiest person ever, he hoped he didn't disturb Van as he carefully slid out from under the covers. The cold air was an unpleasant shock, causing his skin to break out into goosebumps and his cock to try to withdraw inside his body. He made haste for the bathroom, trying not to hiss as his feet hit the cold metal floor.

Of course Van's quarters would be almost freezing at night given her preference for the cold. She was the only one in the old HQ that didn't regularly bundle up. Despite what she might have thought, she didn't really complain about the temperatures, but it wasn't unusual to see her sleeves of her jumpsuit rolled up. Like she did now on the Avenger.

It did however make it damn hard on an old man who needed to relieve himself and the appropriate equipment didn't want to be exposed to the cold air. Eventually the major biological imperative won and the relief was indescribable.

Once his ablutions were taken care of, he braved the icy floor and took as much care as he could to get back into the bed. There was a quiet sound from Van and one eye cracked open enough to regard him. He kept his voice low as he said, "Easy, angel, just me coming back to bed."

Bradford couldn't help his gasp of shock as her warm body snuggled back up to his chilled one. The other eye opened a sliver. "Okay? Freezing."

"Yeah. Just needed the bathroom. Go back to sleep." Between the warmth of her body and the covers, he was thawing out just fine.

"Kay," she said sleepily. The eyes closed as she put an arm over his waist and buried her face against his chest. He didn't let himself fall back asleep right away. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman he cared for and he wanted to enjoy the unusually peaceful moment. He fell back asleep with his face buried in her hair.

Sometime later he woke up feeling every minute of his fifty-five years due to the way he'd contorted himself around Van. But the discomfort was worth it. Normally he wasn't one to linger in bed, but this morning he made an exception. It wasn't every day he woke up next to the woman he loved.

There. He admitted to himself at least. He wasn't ready to tell Van that just yet though. The change in their relationship was just too new and fragile to weigh down with such a strong emotion. He also wasn't ready for the gentle letdown she'd probably give him about caring for him.

So he laid there, ignoring the ache in his back, and reveled in cuddling a sleeping Van.

It wasn't long until she stirred to wakefulness. When her eyes flickered open, he lightly stroked her face and quietly said, "Good morning."

The smile she gave him was more glorious than any sunrise he'd seen. "It is a good morning, isn't it?" Van shifted around so she could kiss him softly and to his surprise, and a bit of embarrassment, felt himself get hard as he kissed her back. After the night before he didn't expect his body to be able to get aroused again so soon.

Van's smile turned into a grin. "A really good morning." She kissed him again, this time more passionately, a hand running along his side to his hip then to his erection with a quick, firm caress, causing him to suck in his breath in surprise. Then her hand stroked back up his side. He could feel the tips of her breasts harden against chest as evidence of her arousal.

This was probably the perkiest he'd ever seen Van in the morning before she had coffee. Not that he was going to complain. Neither was he going to argue when she gently pushed him on his back. "Let me do this, my knight. You got to have fun last night, it's my turn now."

"Won't argue with that, angel." The night before he'd wanted to make sure that he was still capable of sex. Sure he'd felt ready, but he didn't want to find out that he wasn't capable at the moment of truth. He'd also been somewhat concerned about her strength. After all just a few days before she'd twisted the metal handrail with her bare hands. Yet she'd shown a great deal of restraint the night before, so he found himself more than comfortable with her taking the lead that morning.

She straddled his waist where her warm wetness taunted him with its nearness, but not actually touching him, and bent down to kiss him. He couldn't resist reaching up to fondle her breasts. Maybe to most men she would be too small, but for him they were perfect. She was perfect. Especially when she broke off the kiss to gasp from his attentions, back arching into his hands causing her to slide down and against his erection. He learned the night before just how sensitive she was and couldn't resist play some more.

"Thought it was supposed to be my turn to play?" She asked with a grin.

He grinned back up at her. "Couldn't resist."

"Uh huh," was the mock dubious reply before she kissed him again, this time sliding one hand along his chest leaving the other to support her above him. Taking the cue, he let his hands drift from her breasts to her back, then down to her ass. As he had the night before, he silently marveled at the soft, smooth skin over muscle that felt like tightly coiled spring steel. Then she slid her hand from his chest to the side of him and leaned in to start kissing along his chest, then she lightly nipped one of his nipples with just the faintest hint of teeth.

It felt like a jolt of electricity went through him and he became even more aware of the woman straddling him: the heat of her skin, the feel of her breath on his skin, the weight of her poised just so, the scent of her. Not sure of how much longer he could hold out, Bradford groaned. "Van."

Dark grey eyes studied him before she nodded and rose up on her knees, he let his hands fall away to give her freedom of movement. She shifted backward just enough to rise up and slowly slide down on him.

Her warm, wet folds felt glorious.

But how slowly she was moving was driving him insane. "Don't have to go slow."

"I don't want to hurt you."

He smiled up at her. "Trust you, Vanessa."

An emotion he couldn't read flickered in her eyes, then the smile she gave him banished the shadows that had briefly gathered in her expression and she let herself sink all the way down on him. She closed her eyes and he could feel her tense around him. Her whisper was just on the edge of hearing. "God, John. Feel so good."

Somehow he found the wherewithal to sit up, wrap his arms around her and kiss her soundly. Breathing heavily, she said, "Might want to lie back down. Not sure if I have a good angle this way."

Since the pose he was in did feel somewhat awkward, Bradford laid back down, keeping his hands along her thighs and she wiggled around not unpleasantly until she got to a good position. He managed to get out. "Right. There."

Running her hands along his chest and stomach, she closed her eyes and started to move slowly up and down on him then gradually picked up the pace. It was so easy to fall into rhythm with her. While he would have liked to watch her ride him, he couldn't help closing his eyes to concentrate on the sensations of her hands on him, the way she gripped him, her rear end bouncing against his upper thighs, how her legs felt under his hands.

It also let him keep from coming too soon.

Then she slammed down and contracted tightly on him, her voice just the merest wisp of a whisper as she said his name. He gripped her hips as he finally let himself go.

After she let him slip out of her, she stretched out alongside him, resting her head on his chest, an arm draped over his waist, a leg over his. Bradford slid into a semi-doze since it felt like Van may have fallen back asleep with the steadiness of her breathing.

For once he wasn't going to let himself feel guilty for taking some time for himself.

Van lifted her head up to look at him with surprisingly alert eyes and asked a little too brightly. "So, want to tell me about that scar on your right leg? The one that's making you limp about."

Bradford covered his face with his right arm and tried not to groan. The woman had an impeccable sense of timing. So much for cuddling in the afterglow of morning lovemaking. "Leg's getting better."

"John."

He sighed. "What do you want me to say, Vanessa? You probably already figured it out."

"You got hurt retrieving me."

Since he couldn't read the tone of her voice, he moved his arm to look at her. There was worry and fear making her eyes darker than usual, but none of the anger he expected. He sat up and pulled her with him, then he rested his cheek against the top of her head, holding her close. "Van, angel, I had to get you out of there." He finally voiced a truth that haunted him since that night he lost her and XCOM. "I failed to protect you that night. Being the one to get you back was the only way to start making it right."

"It wasn't your fault." The sincerity in her voice rocked him.

"One of my duties was to keep you safe. By then, it wasn't a duty. I let a friend down."

She carefully moved her head so she could look at him, but didn't say anything yet. He raked his fingers through his hair, realizing there was more he needed to say. "By then you were more than my Commander, more than a friend. You…mean a lot to me. That was part of what kept driving me all these years."

He'd heard the rumors behind his back all these years, about being obsessed with her. Bradford had to allow that maybe there was something to it. Yet there was in his arms, sharing her bed, watching him with those solemn grey eyes with hand on his chest over his heart. It was a dream come true that he'd never dared allow himself to believe would happen. Even after the first time she kissed him.

If it weren't for the fact that he was feeling more than a little sore and vaguely sticky, he'd think he was dreaming.

"John, you've come to mean the world to me. The thought that you got hurt because of me, then stood by my side for however long it took Tygan to operate…"

"Heh. Well, I was patched up enough to be there. You're not the only one with some measure of stubborn pride."

She smiled, but something else seemed to be bothering her. "What is it, Van?"

"I knew that you've had a rough life all these years, but I didn't realize how rough until last night." Her hand lightly skimmed some of the scars on his side. Some from when the ceiling in Mission Control collapsed on him, some from the different gunfights he'd been in.

Bradford took her hand. "Van, I promise I'm all right."

"Just promise me that you won't take anymore unnecessary risks?"

"If it comes to you, it's not an unnecessary risk. Even one of our people." He gave her one of his best stern looks. "Or are you willing to tell me you don't feel the same?"

There was faint curve to the corner of her mouth. "Touché. I would do whatever I could to rescue one of our people and if it came to you…" Van thought about that for a moment. "I'm not sure what I would do exactly, but I'm fairly certain it wouldn't be pretty." She sighed a little. "And yes, I do understand why you needed to be there."

One of the many things he loved about her was that she was empathetic enough to understand where another person was coming from.

Van wrinkled her nose. "Anyway, sweetheart, I don't know about you, but while I really enjoyed last night and this morning, I feel a bit, ah, sticky." She hesitated. "Would you like to take a shower with me? I'm pretty sure there's enough room."

The hesitation made him wonder. "If you're sure you want to."

"Oh, I want to. I'm just not sure how much room to move around we'll have."

In the end the shower stall was a little cramped, but not too bad and made him glad that he didn't have the muscle mass he'd had in his younger years.

Since the bathroom wasn't big enough for both of them, Van opted to get dressed in the outer room. When he came out, dressed in warm sweat shirt and pants with thick socks, he shuddered at what she was in dressed in.

Van looked over at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"What you're wearing. Or not."

She looked down at her t-shirt with the XCOM logo emblazoned on the chest and the cargo shorts that went down to her knees and her bare feet, then looked back at him. "I don't see what's wrong."

"Aren't you freezing?" He felt cold just looking at her and he knew she'd turned the heat up for him before their shower.

"If I were, I'd be wearing something warmer."

He shook his head. "Maybe the troops should have given you the codename of Elsa instead."

She just laughed in response, then went over to the side of her desk where she poured two mugs of coffee. He walked over to take one and dropped a quick kiss on her. As he drank from his mug, he eyeballed the mess they'd left of her quarters the night before.

Van commented as she put sugar and creamer into her coffee. "Shouldn't be that hard to clean up. The real question is where do you want to go for breakfast?"

"You planned breakfast too?" If she had, he was impressed she thought that things would work out the way she had intended.

"Not quite. We never did get to dessert last night, it should go well with coffee."

He was almost afraid to ask. Van grinned at him. "A couple of the world's largest eclairs."

"Not a bad idea. Maybe take care of the table at least?"

She surveyed the table, then the rest of the room and took a delicate sniff. The air did have a certain… aroma to it. "Yeah. Might as well get everything cleaned up first so we can get it out of the way."

With the two of them working together, it didn't take very long to put the room to rights. The dishes were packed up in the carrier they'd been delivered in and set by the door to be returned to the mess later. He was pleased to see that she'd gotten a replacement blanket for her bed, not just clean sheets.

Soon enough he found himself seated on a couch with a fresh mug of coffee while she rummaged around in the mini-fridge. When the first one came out, he choked on his coffee. Van's head jerked up. "You okay?"

He waved her off. "Fine. You weren't kidding though. Maybe just split one for now?"

"All right." The second one got put away and as she began to neatly divide the giant pastry, she asked. "Unless there's something in particular you want to watch, the remote is on the table if you want to browse."

Since he really didn't have an idea of what to watch, he did as she suggested and started scrolling through the list. And scrolled some more. "Christ, Van, just how many movies do you own?"

Van grinned as she came over with the plated halves of the éclair, napkins and spoons. "A lot. Since it was just me at home, it was nice to come home after work, put on a movie and veg. When I was told by those soldiers to pack up things for an extended stay away from home, I made sure to pack up laptop and external drives just in case." She handed him a plate, napkin and utensil, then settled in next to him, more at ease than she had been the night before. "Not that I really had time to watch anything then."

She made a rueful sound. "Of course I also had no idea what I was in for. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have brought half the shit with me that I did grab."

"I can imagine. At least we can enjoy them now."

"Very true."

For the next few hours they cuddled on the couch, watching movies. They did take brief breaks to attend to various needs and a longer one for lunch. It was strange for the mess to be so quiet, but at the same time it was good to know that their people were getting a much deserved break.

He was grateful that they didn't get any odd looks beyond a few people shivering when they saw the way Van was dressed.

The small bit of trouble they had that day came from watching _Captain America: The First Avenger_. For Van, it was when Rogers went through his procedure with the super soldier serum. She made a quiet sound as the containment chamber lid settled into place. He paused the movie. "Okay?"

"Yeah." She huffed a little. "It's stupid to get worked up over a movie like that."

He held her closer as she shifted to wrap her arms around him. Bradford really hadn't thought about how the movie would affect her. Or him for that matter. "Not really. Hits close to home in some spots."

"It does." She shifted a little so her position was less uncomfortable for them both, but didn't let go. "I'm good to go whenever you are."

After putting the movie back on, he leaned his face against the top of her head, offering what silent comfort he could. He had a feeling she was thinking the same thing she did, Rogers had the choice to become what he was while she didn't. Except maybe she had a choice after all. She chose to learn to use those changes done to her to do what she could against the aliens.

It was at the end of the movie that it felt like his heart broke. Hearing the two would be lovers try to keep their morale up was almost too much, especially with the knowledge of how much time would pass before they saw each other, and he closed his eyes to try to get control over his feelings. It was more than a little surprising that it affected him like that.

Then he felt Van's hands cup his face and her soft lips on his as she gently kissed him. He opened his eyes when they finished and he could see her eyes bright with tears. She gave him a wane smile as one tear slipped down her cheek. "Stupid movie."

"We have an idea of what they went through, angel."

Twenty years without her had been bad enough. But seventy? He knew would've died long before then, more likely trying to fight impossible odds than old age.

"I guess we do. I think I'm done with movies for now, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. What did you have in mind?"

"Maybe a walk around HQ's hydroponics? For a place with such a technical name, it's almost like the botanical gardens I'm used to." This time her grin wasn't so wane. "And yes, I'll wear more than just a t-shirt and shorts."

It didn't take long for her to get ready, a habit of hers that he greatly appreciated.

Soon they were walking arm in arm to the massive complex and he felt the tightness in his chest loosen. Maybe it was foolish to flaunt the change in their relationship the way they were about to, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

The happiness in her eyes made it worth it.

Bradford just hoped she could see the same in his.


	27. Chapter 27

**_March 2, 2035_**

 ** _08:00 Moscow Time Zone_**

 ** _Resistance HQ_**

Van had worried that there might be awkwardness between her and Bradford in their official capacities, but she realized she should've known better. He silently fell into step at her side as she was heading down to R&D for whatever it was Tygan wanted to discuss with them.

"Morning, John." The smile she gave him was probably warmer than was professionally appropriate, but found she didn't care.

The smile she got in return caused the skin around his eyes to crinkle and was just as warm. She was amused to see the stubble already starting to grow back. "Morning, Van. Tygan up to his usual mysterious ways?"

"Yes. I expected for us to meet him at the Shadow Chamber now that it's done, but he chose here instead." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "Maybe he found something in the data dump I gave him?"

"Probably, since he's caught up on the autopsies he wanted to perform. We've got enough people to run any testing that needs to be done."

She nodded as they walked into R&D. Tygan was standing before the massive screen he used when demonstrating his finds. On it were numerous brain scans. Van had a really bad feeling about this meeting. Oh, who was she kidding? Her stomach clenched in dread anytime she had to come to this part of the Avenger.

The doctor turned around. "Vanessa, Central."

She eyed the two men wondering what was going on. Tygan only called John Central when he was annoyed with him. And yes, the doctor looked annoyed and John had that stony expression he got when he was setting his heels in against something. It was way too early in the morning for it, but she put on her best Commander face on and asked. "Is there a problem?"

The two men looked at each other. John sighed in annoyance. "Fine. When?"

"Tomorrow morning at this time."

"Fine, be there."

It was probably better not to know. She crossed her arms over her chest. "So what did you want to see us about this morning? I'm guessing it's not the Shadow Chamber."

"Oh, I do want to show you around, but I wanted to go over some of the information you sent to me a few days ago first." He frowned a little. "First, I have to say that my predecessor was a brute with her methods. The technology then may not have been as advanced like we have now, Dr. Vahlen didn't have to be so…crude."

It was nice to be vindicated about how she felt towards Vahlen's methods. There were times Van still had nightmares about some of the interrogations she'd seen.

John shook his head. "We were at war with an enemy that was so far advanced of us as to be laughable. Had to do whatever we could to try to even the odds." He looked over at her. "Though Vanessa did object to how it was conducted."

She shrugged. That had been one of the few times they hadn't seen eye to eye on a matter and she had reluctantly let them talk her into allowing the "interrogation" sessions. "It'd been proven time and again that torture doesn't really provide useful information, the subject will say whatever they can to end it. Though in the case of the aliens, we didn't often get much useful information. So did you find new information from that?"

"No, and I apologize for the tangent. I was perturbed by what I saw when skimming through the files. What I wanted to talk with you about was the medical records she had in there. On the staff. Including the senior members, like Dr. Shen, Bradford here. You, Vanessa."

Medical records? Yeah, this wasn't going to be good. "Okay?"

He gestured to the column of scans to his left. "These are from the scans I performed last week. And these,' he highlighted the column to his right, "are from the scans Dr. Vahlen performed the day before the attack on the old headquarters. My analysis reveals no major differences between the two sets. Given the... trauma you've experienced, it's astonishing."

Trauma. Where the hell did he get these phrases from? Then the full impact of his words sank in. Feeling weak kneed she grabbed the edge of the table. "So you're saying that they didn't tamper with my mind, despite the implants?"

"That's correct."

The relief was overwhelming causing her to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. She really was herself, not some facsimile or walking time bomb. John gripped her shoulder in silent support.

To give the man credit he did _not_ say I told you so. After another squeeze, he let his hand fall away, but didn't move from her side.

"Thank you Doctor, that took a lot of weight off my mind. Though I sense a but lurking in there."

When Tygan didn't respond, she gave him a wry smile. "Don't worry, I've already had my breakdown for the year."

John snorted, but didn't say anything. The doctor just looked at her solemnly for a moment. She sighed. "Tygan, since you're sure I'm _me_."

"I'm positive, I can show the breakdown of my review if you'd like."

She smiled. "I believe you. So what's the bad news? Other than the aliens clearly doing more than just cleaning up my genetic code. Or my psionic sensitivity." Van still had a difficult time believing that she had any kind of psionic potential. Though she was convinced about being sensitive to psionic energy.

"It has had to do with both. First though, I have to apologize for not realizing the extent of the changes the aliens had made on your body."

Van shrugged, she'd come to terms with it shortly after she'd lost her mind on John. "I'm not sure why you feel the need to apologize, it seems like a lot of it was, well, hidden until something triggered them."

"That is only partially true. Now that I have access to your previous records, I now see how extensively they've re-written your genetic code."

"Is there something I should be worried about with that? Say like turning into something that isn't human?"

"Nothing like that."

"Good, so what's the next thing you wanted to talk about?" Van really wanted to get this and the Shadow Chamber out of the way so she could get to her duties. While she had no problem letting John know she was starting to enjoy the benefits of the changes, she wasn't quite ready to admit to anyone else, including Tygan.

"Before I do, there's something I need to ask. Did Dr. Vahlen ever tell you why she was performing so many exams on you? I've done them because of the extensive changes you've been experiencing and your initial concerns."

"To monitor me for stress. I honestly never thought about it because of how busy we were then. Not that we aren't busy now, but it was a little more, er, hectic then."

John spoke up. "Busy doesn't even begin to describe that time. It was insanity trying to organize the defense of the entire world. The pressure we were under at the time…" He shook his head. "Tried to take what I could off Van's shoulders, but most of it still fell on her as Commander. I would've been surprised if Vahlen wasn't monitoring her."

Tygan seemed to think that over.

Trying not to let her paranoia start running around in her head, Van asked, "Why?"

"From what little notes she had, my predecessor not only knew about your potential, but that you are psionically active."

"Excuse me?" Van asked in shock, not quite believing her ears. She slanted a glance at John who looked intrigued, but not surprised. Then again he had mentioned he'd always wondered if she weren't active.

The doctor gave her a level look. "Vanessa, while most of your ability is merely potential, a minute fraction is active and not just your ability to sense nearby energy."

"I'm not entirely positive, not until we have the psionic lab up and running, but it appears you have some degree of prescience."

"Pre- ", she stopped herself as she tried to digest that, not liking the shrill edge she heard in her own voice. Then restarted so she didn't sound quite so hysterical. "Prescience, as in being able to see the future?"

He folded his hands and nodded. John asked, "You said not powerful, but it's enough to say, be aware of a squad of sectoids and position our people so they can take them out without risk of getting controlled by them?"

The scientist favored him with a rare smile. "Yes. I doubt it triggers often, but when it does, the results are impressive."

Van shook her head skeptically. "How do you know it's that and not from my training and experience? The situation you're referring to was pretty obvious that there was something going on."

"Normally I would agree, but that was during the time I was actively monitoring you. Areas that are normally dormant in you lit up at that moment. This isn't to discount your knowledge. It acts more as an addition to your active thought processes."

"All right." She rubbed the palms of her hands together a little restlessly as she thought everything over. Hoping she was wrong, Van asked, "The psionic network… Could that have allowed the aliens to use that ability? Since they were clearly using my know-how to direct their troops."

John paled as Tygan nodded slowly and she could feel herself getting a little faint. The doctor said unhappily. "It's quite possible."

"Not sure whether to be more relieved or not," John growled. "Been worried about a leak somewhere, but wasn't positive. There'd been operations where they were prepped for our intrusion, but when we hadn't seen anything like that in the last month…"

Tygan coughed delicately. "Except for the ones you led, Bradford."

John rubbed his chin for a moment. "Yeah. Always wondered about that too."

Van eyed the man. He raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not casting aspersions, Vanessa. As soon as you were up and about, it was obvious to everyone in XCOM that the two of you have a very tight working relationship. Anything else between you is just that. Between you. However, I suspect that even with you being unconscious you'd protect those close to you."

"Like Adam Kelly," John supplied. "He retired a few years after the invasion to take care of his family. What injuries he and his teams sustained were because of normal opposition."

"So presuming this is all correct, why wouldn't they have activated my potential? That would've likely let them squash the Resistance and I'm not patting my own back here."

"I can't say for certain," Tygan replied slowly," but I would have to say that activating your potential might have caused them more harm than good. It likely would have broken your stasis and depending on what powers you possess..."

Van gave him a knife edged smile. "Yes, I would have rampaged." The smile fell away. "Are you sure it's wise to activate anything more? We don't know how I'll react."

"Van. We need everything we can get to stop them," John said. "But I won't let any of us risk you until we're sure about how this is going to be done."

"Absolutely," Tygan replied firmly. "Once the lab is completed, we'll train other sensitives first to make sure of the process. You are too valuable to the Resistance for any uncertainty."

She had resigned herself to no longer arguing about her importance, or lack thereof, to XCOM. They were convinced and she had better things to spend her energy on. "Okay then. Was there anything else that we needed to go over about the records?"

Tygan shook his head. "No, that's it for now."

"Good. So now about this Shadow Chamber?"

The doctor opened a drawer and pulled out what appeared to be a translucent, violet colored bowl. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "A mindshield?"

"Shen's idea. The chamber _is_ tapped into their psionic network and thus flooded with the energy. She figured it should help keep it from overwhelming you." He gave them an odd look. "I'm going to head up there now, but you don't have to come with me. I suspect you have a lot to talk about."

He briskly strode out the door, then secured it so that no one could walk in on them. With a smile she reached out to touch his hand. "Thank you."

John wrapped his hand around hers, then reached out to take her other hand. "For what?"

"For not saying 'I told you so' and for believing in me."

He gave her a crooked smile. "Angel, that phrase is one of the most demeaning ones I know. Besides I'm not your father." He gave a little roll of his shoulders that weren't quite a shrug. "Believing in you is easy, Van. Look at all we've accomplished so far." He gave her a sideways look. "Even if it was cutting through all the paperwork I was used to filling out."

She scrunched up her nose at him, then laughed. "Sure, we need after action reports, but didn't need most of the rest of the mountain, even if it is electronic."

Then Van turned serious as she really let the implications of the information Tygan dumped on them. "I had been seriously considering letting Tygan activate whatever might be lurking in the recesses of my brain, but now… I'm not sure if that's wise."

There was silence for a moment as John let go of her hands to wrap her up in his arms. She sighed a little as she settled in against with her arms around him in turn. Gently stroking her hair, he finally asked, "Why?"

"What if that pushes me into becoming like them?"

"I won't let it happen."

She twisted enough to take a look at his face and could see the way his jaw was set and his dark brown eyes that he was dead set on that. "John, what if there was some way I was manipulating you when I was in their hands? What about now? When we don't know what I can do just yet."

He snorted. "Faced enough sectoids over the years to know when someone is trying to manipulate me. Don't feel any of that from you, except for what a man feels for a woman who has come to mean a lot to him." He held her close again. "If anything, I think you were reaching out to me all these years, but there wasn't a way for us to connect."

"That's possible. John?"

"Yes, angel?"

"I want you to know that no matter how things go between us, that you've always been my safe harbor. That as long as I have you I feel like I have a… solid place to stand to do whatever I need to." She sighed. "All right, I'm not very good at this kind thing."

He gave her a quick kiss. "Doing just fine, but…"

"Yeah, time to go to work." Van could feel his reluctance to let her go and managed to contain her own at moving away from him. She picked up the mindshield, then the happiness that had been buried finally came forth. She spun around quickly. "I really am me."

The light in his eyes was all the answer she needed.

Then it was time to get going. They walked in easy silence to the new facility and it wasn't long until she could feel the faintest prickling of her skin. Somewhat dubiously, she put the dome over her head and gasped as the prickling sensation faded. Though she was still able to dimly sense the energy.

"Okay, Van?"

"I am. It works! I'm still aware of it, but it isn't bothering me like it has before."

"Good. That'll make Shen happy. Probably not as happy as you though."

She smiled at that before stepping into the room flooded with energy. There was a sensation of an almost nebulous pressure, but she wasn't wracked with the previously disabling nausea and pain.

Lily looked up from the terminal she was standing at. "Vanessa, Central. Welcome to the Shadow Chamber."

Van looked around at the displays and machinery along three walls of the room and in the center was an odd circular arrangement hanging from the ceiling banded with glowing purple light, and a similar ball in the center of the arrangement. Below it was a small circular platform connected to a small terminal.

Tygan stepped up to the doorway where the two of them were standing and studying the room. He beckoned for them to enter and he started to slowly show them the equipment up close. One of the monitors displayed a schematic of the arrangement in the center and it seemed to indicate that there was an enclosure of some sort as part of it.

She narrowed her eyes. "I thought I said no live captures and interrogations?"

Lily answered her. "We are most certainly not doing that. This arrangement lets us concentrate a stream of energy to make it easier for us to hack into it."

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

The engineer waved it off. "No apologies needed. It does look a bit like the containment unit that used to be at old HQ." She tapped at the keyboard in front of her, then smiled and stepped away. "Ever since this came online, we've been having that, um, material from the blacksite being processed. We should have some idea of what it is by tomorrow."

The sooner they got more information, the better off they were, but Van was still not looking forward to the latest analysis of the horrors the aliens were capable of.

Lily squinted at her. "So how's the mindshield working?"

"I can sense the energy as a faint pressure, but no pain, no nausea, so I'd say that your idea is an excellent one."

The other woman beamed at her. "That's great! Here, let's give you more details on what we can do with the upgraded decryption methods we're capable of now."

As Van listened intently to Tygan and Lily, she couldn't help reflecting on the differences between her current head scientist and his predecessor. For all that Tygan was an incredibly reserved man, he had been upfront with her from the get go and didn't slaver over the alien tech the way Vahlen had. He was impressed by it, respected it, but didn't hunger for it.

Maybe it was because he'd been working with the technology all these years, but she didn't think so. He'd been truly upset and repulsed by Vahlen's actions.

She worried about what kind of trouble Vahlen was going to give them beyond being a traitor. Van hadn't been ready to bring the matter up with John, but if Vahlen had told her about her abilities, even if only the psionic sensitivity, they wouldn't be in the situation they were now.

XCOM would never have fallen to the aliens. She'd had enough time to set up an alarm, but had been blind to the danger. Never again.

Vanessa McKenzie realized that her previous decision to activate whatever powers she may have possessed hadn't changed at all. If anything, it had been solidified.


	28. Chapter 28

**_March 3, 2035_**

 ** _09:00 Moscow Time Zone_**

 ** _Resistance HQ_**

"Well, doctor?" Bradford asked as he pulled his shirt back on. The lab may have been warmer than most parts of the Avenger, it was still damn cold.

Tygan shook his head as he studied the readouts on a monitor. "You are an extraordinarily lucky son of a bitch, Bradford."

That brought him up short. Tygan almost never swore. "So the liver is doing okay?"

"Liver functions are perfectly normal. It's almost as if you didn't spend the past two decades trying to pickle yourself. In fact you're in excellent health all the way around."

Bradford grunted in disgust. "Aside from the alcohol I did eat healthily and train on a regular basis. Still do for that matter."

"Yes, which is probably why your liver didn't rot away despite your best efforts. I would say that you stopped drinking just in time."

"Right." Bradford rubbed the back of his neck. "So I take it that there wasn't unexpected in my records?"

"You are correct. Nothing at all unusual. Fortunately, or not, the only unusual records are Vanessa's. I included the soldiers in my search to make sure."

"Thanks. Still meeting with you and Shen this afternoon in the Shadow Chamber?"

"Yes." Tygan seemed conflicted about something, then spoke again. "Bradford, I'm not asking you to violate any confidence, but how is Vanessa really doing? That comment about a break down has me concerned."

He thought the question over. Van trusted Tygan like she didn't Vahlen, though she wasn't close to Tygan the way she was with him or the two Shens. He was also her doctor. "She's stronger than she gives herself credit for. " Bradford scratched the back of his head. "The scans you showed yesterday did a lot to boost her spirits. Vanessa's not questioning if she's herself now."

"Good." Tygan actually smiled. "I was hoping that would be the case when I saw the records in there."

Bradford finally asked what had been bothering him since the day before. "Vahlen really did know about Vanessa's…abilities?"

"I'm sorry, Bradford, but she did. There were no notes about why she kept this from the two of you."

It was hard to believe that Vahlen betrayed them like that. Was that why she hadn't been in contact with them since the original HQ fell? Unfortunately, he had no one else to talk to about this besides Van. And he didn't have to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking. She never did like Vahlen. No, to be honest, she never _trusted_ Vahlen. And that distrust caused dislike for the scientist.

Hoping to avoid any further pitfalls, he asked, "Anything else?"

"No. You're free to go."

He gratefully made his escape to Mission Control. Once back in what he considered his territory with the usual mornings greetings, Bradford felt the tension in his shoulders easing away. The place felt a little quieter and emptier without Van's presence, but for the moment it was a bit of a relief. He needed time to process what Tygan had and hadn't said.

For a time he immersed himself in the minutia of the organization before checking in with Valley's people for any potential new contacts. Then he got distracted by Tucker with a possible contact which lead to another matter for him to look into. The next thing he knew a couple of hours had passed, he was starting and there'd been no sign of Van anywhere near Mission Control.

Since there'd been no notification of her leaving the Avenger, he sent a discrete query to the ship's AI. She was still with the troops in the armory. That was strange. Even with Kelly coming off the injured list to work one on one with her, she usually didn't spend this long in training. Seeing the time, and that he was starting to feel somewhat hungry, he sent Van a message. _Lunch?_

 _Sure. Meet you at the mess in 15?_

 _See you then._

Well, she seemed to be doing all right at least. Shaking his head a little to himself, he wrapped up what he was working on before breaking for lunch. By the time he arrived, Van was already sitting at what become the unofficial "Commander's table" working on her tablet, an untouched tray of food at her elbow. She looked up and smiled as he walked up to the line to get his food.

By the time he got the table, she'd put away the tablet. She flashed another smile. "Good morning."

He settled in across the table and gave her a slight smile of his own. "Good afternoon, angel."

Amusement glinted in her eyes as she started to dig into her lunch. "Got me there. Looks like you managed to escape unscathed from Tygan's clutches."

"Something like that." They ate in silence for a few minutes before he finally gave into his curiosity. "Training seems to have been longer than normal."

"I'd made my old after action reports available to them. There had also been some video of a few missions, so I included them. They had questions that I thought was worth going over. I'd set a reminder myself for our meeting with Lily and Tygan this afternoon and since it seemed like a quiet day I figured it couldn't hurt to go over them."

He blinked a little. She wasn't quite babbling, but it was close. "Hey, if anything came up I would've let you know. Our soldiers don't really get the training our previous troops had access too, so anything that can help is good."

Van poked halfheartedly at her partially eaten serving of shepherd's pie with her spoon. "That reminds me of an idea I've been thinking about."

"Go ahead." He mentally frowned at her signs of nervousness. He was fairly certain it wasn't him, or whatever idea she'd cooked up now. Bradford silently promised not to yell at her if she didn't eat, but he was going to speak up about it.

"I know you and Kelly have mentioned that some of our veterans are still around. Do you think we can get maybe two to three to come on as trainers for our soldiers? Ones that can handle not being sent out to fight?"

Bradford rolled that over in his mind, pleased to see that Van was starting to eat again. "That is a good idea. Think that might be doable. Will see who I can dig up."

"Thank you. I know this is one more thing I'm putting on you, but I do appreciate it."

He snorted. "You make it sound like it's a difficult task. I know how to get in touch with Adam Kelly and his partner in crime Duane Robinson."

That got him the grin he was hoping for. Kelly on his own was generally on the straight and narrow, the same for Robinson. Putting them together was asking for trouble. Something short circuited in their brains and they started pulling shit on people. Nothing dangerous, and it did boost morale, but the pranks were often a pain in the ass for him.

Van had been amused by their antics, but had been very careful not to let on when she had to discipline them.

He hated to see what they would do in the rather more relaxed atmosphere of the current incarnation of XCOM.

Then her grin shifted to having a touch of evil to it. "We might be entertained by them, but I suspect whomever they train will be cursing us out. They were pretty tough as taskmasters."

"Forgot about that. Should work then."

"Good." She started to eat with a bit more enthusiasm.

"There's something I'd like to ask about." He suddenly felt a little nervous, hoping he had read her right. He'd missed having her in his arms and hoped that he was right about Van leaving the ball in his court so to speak. Rather than her trying to figure out how to cool off their relationship since she hadn't invited him to her bed again. "It's, ah, personal."

Van lowered her spoon and asked, "What's on your mind?"

Bradford leaned forward and pitched his voice for her ears only. "Would you spend the night with me tonight? Regardless of the outcome of Shen's and Tygan's research."

The happiness that lit up her eyes eased the tension he'd been feeling. She replied just as discretely. "Are you sure you don't want to spend the night in my quarters? I seem to remember that you have a single bed that's not much better than my shower."

"Well we did make that work."

"So we did." The smile bloomed again. "All right, we'll make that work too."

Their conversation drifted back to work after that, but there were warm smiles between them every so often.

A quiet chime from her tablet caused Van to grimace a bit. "Guess we better hurry up with eating. That was my reminder about our upcoming meeting."

He looked down at his largely empty tray. "I think I'm done."

"Same." She sucked in her breath and let it out in a huff. "Let's get this done before I lose my nerve."

When they arrived at the facility, Van having already slipped her shield on, they found Tygan seated at one of the terminals while Lily was standing at the one attached to the central arrangement. He found himself drawn to the imagery from the video taken by the team when they hit the blacksite. "Still can't believe it's come to this."

Movement caught the corner of his eye, proving to be Van prowling around the room restlessly. Tygan turned in his chair. "I truly hope those gruesome images are the worst of what we find today."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bradford turned toward the doctor pointing angrily at the screen. His voice was hoarse from his horror. "They're slaughtering us, _Doctor_. What could be worse?"

While Van still kept moving, she was thinking something over, but didn't say anything just yet.

Shen said quietly. "We're about to find out." As she spoke the hologram of Earth from Mission Control appeared. "I've patched the Shadow Chamber directly into the ship's computer." The hologram broke up into purple icons. "It's been sifting through the material the squad recovered non-stop since their return. Cataloguing sequences…" She trailed off uncertainly.

Tygan started looking through the information the engineer sent to him. He sounded stunned as he sifted through it. "Genetic sequences. In near infinite combinations. Yet all bearing similar genetic markers." He swallowed. " _Human_ markers."

The data stream started flow across some of the other monitors in the room. Bradford couldn't quite hide his dismay as he leaned against the handrail to study what was scrolling down. "There must be thousands of them."

"Tens of thousands. And the processing is still nowhere near complete."

He glanced over at Van who paused in her restless movements to stare at the information herself. He found that couldn't read her face or body to try to figure out what was going on behind those dark eyes. He just hoped this wasn't her breaking point. It didn't look like it though. Then he returned his attention to what Tygan was saying.

Tens of thousands of genetic sequences? What the hell?

Shen responded as she worked with the computer. "Which is why we need the ship's computer to find out where they came from."

Knowing better than to interrupt, he stood arms akimbo as he listened to her. "By cross referencing them with the data we've managed to hack from the ADVENT network…" The hologram changed to an ID photo, what looked like a DNA sequence and more information. "It's…it's an admission file. From… one of the gene therapy clinics."

Van crashed to a halt. He looked at the information on the hologram, to Van, then to Tygan. Remembering his conversation with Van before the raid on the blacksite, he whispered. "Avatar."

Horror and anger welled up in him. "Just what exactly is in that vial?"

Tygan slowly got out of his chair and walked up next to Shen, staring at the display the entire time. The man looked sick. "In my worst nightmares, I would never have imagined…"

Desperation pushed at him. That and the pallor in Van's face. "Doctor!"

"I-I believe we have found the missing civilians."

Bradford couldn't believe what he was hearing. Refused to believe. He wasn't sure what he was feeling as he replied desperately. "That's…that's impossible."

Across from him, Vanessa closed her eyes and turned away for a moment. There was revulsion in her expression, but not surprise. She'd probably had figured it out as soon as she heard about the human genetic markers.

Shen shivered. "The gene clinics." She rubbed her forehead and her voice was hollow as she continued. "Millions of people, just looking for help." She fell silent and shook a little.

Seemingly to speak more to himself than the rest of the room, Tygan commented. "Medically screened and selected. Suitable candidates taken to that _contemptible_ facility to be processed. Refined into that material we now possess."

Bradford still refused to believe what he was hearing. The display started to bring up more and more files, presumably admission files of the missing people. Shaking his head, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Not wanting to comprehend, he asked in despair. "But… why do this?"

"I cannot begin to fathom a guess at this point," Tygan replied, still staring in disgust at the display. Anger crept into the man's voice. "There exists no research that would ever warrant this."

Shen responded with her own anger, though fear was written all over her. "It's genocide, _Doctor_. And these people are walking right into it!"

The Commander finally spoke up. There was a harshness in her voice that he wasn't used to. "It's not merely genocide. If it were we wouldn't be standing here because they would've wiped us out twenty years ago."

Shen and Tygan looked at her, then back at him, clearly delegating their questions to him. The look on Vanessa's face was almost terrifying. "Is there something you know? Maybe remembering?"

She growled in frustration, clutching at her head for a moment. "I feel like I should know, but I don't. Avatar. Avatar. They aren't taking over bodies the way I expected, but I suspect they're using them to make…something."

He couldn't help staring at the Commander. Now he realized what he was seeing. Rage and hate. Her face may have been empty of all expression, but with how pale her eyes had gone and the way the knuckles stood out from the backs of her clenched fists told him everything.

Tygan actually took a step back from her, but Shen seemed to be galvanized by it as she leaned forward and started to work on the computer again. "We may not know what they're doing with this…stuff, but I think I can find out where it's going." She tapped away for a few more moments, then victory elated her voice. "God it! A high security production facility. Standard defensive compliment." An image of the facility in question came up on the hologram.

He had a feeling the ancient Greeks would have recognized the look on Vanessa's face. Or rather Athena. When Athena laid down her pen to take up her shield and spear to defend her people and their homes.

Her voice was very cold as she said, "I'm leading this mission myself."

Anyone with any kind of sense of self-preservation would know better than to argue with her. Central just nodded to his Commander. Shen was the only one brave enough to reply. "It's going to take a few days, it's in the eastern United States."

"Bradford, I need you to get the comms people on searching out contacts that can give us the lay of the land around the facility. Shen, I want you and Tygan to start working on that Codex Brain we brought back. Unless you think your respective departments need you for their research projects?"

The scientist and the engineer exchanged somewhat nervous glances, this time Tygan spoke. "No, they should be fine. We'll get started right away, Commander."

"Thank you." She briskly walked out of the chamber and he hastily followed after her. The moment she started using last names and titles on everyone was never a good sign. She was shaking by the time he caught up to her as she started to go upstairs. "Not right now, John. I need to go outside for a walk to clear my head."

"If there's anything I can do…" He didn't like seeing her like this. Driven was normal and good with her, this was not her norm.

Van reached out with a shaky hand and lightly caressed his cheek, then he captured her hand between both of his. Her skin was freezing, but there was something warm on the palm. He turned over her hand to see already healing crescent shaped indentations where her nails had been driven into her palms. Blood streaked her fingers. When he wiped away the blood he could see her palm was unblemished.

She gave him a sad smile and gently tugged her hand free. Or tried to, he wouldn't let go and Bradford trusted her, that no matter how upset she got, she'd never hurt him. "Van?"

He didn't like the way she was shivering as if she were feverish, but her hand was still icy cold in his.

"I…I need to get out, get some fresh air, be away from people so I can lose my temper without worrying that I might hurt someone without meaning to." She pleaded with her eyes for him to understand.

"If you need anything, let me know." He let her go. It was probably one of the most difficult things for him to do in recent memory. Except, he had a feeling if he didn't let her go, he'd lose her. So while he didn't exactly understand, he would give her what she said she needed.

She smiled at him, but it didn't hold the normal dazzle. "Thank you."

He returned to Mission Control to update their objectives and to send an update to the Spokesman, as well as getting the comms people moving on the necessary contacts. By staying on the bridge, he was able to also discretely monitor Van's movements. She kept to word and didn't go far, but she made sure to avoid anyone else who might have reason to be out in the frozen wasteland.

Hours later she finally returned. He debated meeting her, but didn't want to push. So he tried not to stew until she arrived. Whatever it was she'd been up to had done a world of good for her. The color was back in her face and her eyes were filled with their normal warmth. When he brushed his hand against her, he was relieved that her skin was no longer like ice.

Then she gave him a certain look. While he wanted to take her up on the offer, he still had to check. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

The smile she gave him was more than enough for an answer.

After issuing the last of the orders for the day, they headed off. Dinner first in the mess since his room wasn't exactly big enough for the two of them to sit down to eat together. They kept their conversation light and casual, avoiding what happened in the Shadow Chamber.

It wasn't until they were walking to his room that he realized she'd never been there and wondered what she would make of the Spartan room with its neatly made bed with a footlocker at the foot and his small desk and chair. She studied it for a moment then sighed. "John, you could've shaved a few feet off my quarters to give yourself more room."

Bradford couldn't help laughing. That was such a…a _Van_ answer. She grinned back at him with sparkling eyes. He moved up to her. "That wouldn't have exactly worked. Trying to shift the interior walls is a bit difficult."

He cupped her face with his hand then wrapped the other arm around her waist then leaned in so that his lips were just brushing hers. "But don't want to talk about the Avenger."

Her answer was simple. She wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him.

Later, much later, holding a sleeping Van against him, her back against his chest, he realized two things. That yes, the bed was just big enough for both of them. The other was that it was a very different to make love in his own bed.

However, it had been a long, trying day so rather than try to puzzle through what he was feeling, he just held her a little closer before drifting to sleep.


	29. Chapter 29

_**March 6, 2035**_

 _ **04:53 Greenwich Mean Time**_

 _ **English Countryside**_

Damn time zone changes, Van thought muzzily to herself as she clenched her mug of coffee trying to figure out if she were coming or going. John was looking suspiciously perky for a man who had been up just as late as she had been and had been woken up at the same ungodly hour. She tried not to glower at the source of her annoyance: a man with a long, thin face, pale skin, watery blue eyes and shaggy blond hair.

Speaking slowly so she wouldn't start yelling, Van asked, "Just to make sure I understand you correctly, Ethan, some of your men took off a couple of hours ago and haven't reported back? And you want us to retrieve them?"

"Yes, Commander."

At least he could speak English so she didn't have to have a translator on hand. Really, she shouldn't be so irked at the guy since a typical Resistance cell was pretty haphazard. Yet at the same time they could be counted on knowing where their people were generally. "Do you have an idea of where they may have gone?"

He looked chagrined. "I'm afraid not, Commander –"

Ethan broke off what he was saying as someone in the background started talking to him.

Van glanced at John who was looking a little twitchy. She couldn't blame him. Ethan Steele looked to be about the age range between her chronological age and John's actual.

"Thank you for your patience, Commander."

She nodded and waited. Vanessa had no intention of making this easy on the man.

"But I've been informed that there is a tracer on the truck that was taken. There's also some communications equipment that was taken with it that they could possibly be using. If they are, you might be able to locate them with those." He tapped at something at his end and the information popped up at the bottom of the picture.

"No promises, Ethan, but I'll see what can be done."

"Thank you again." Then he was gone.

She rubbed her forehead and muttered. "It's too damn early for this shit."

John gave her a sympathetic look that somehow managed to combine that patient one of him waiting for her to get her brain in gear.

After taking a long drink from her mug, Van asked the current comms tech. "Ms. Eriksen, can you use Mr. Steele's information to attempt a scan for those items?"

"I'll try, ma'am." The woman was clearly trying to remain polite, but Van could easily figure out what was going through her head.

"Just do the best you can, I'm not asking for miracles. In the meantime, have the folks down in Resistance comms keep trying to find another cell to work with. I'm not going to have us tied up with this lot if I can help it." There was no problem in doing something to help a cell in exchange for their help, but until now, none of the cells had been so…ridiculous.

Especially this early in the morning when she could be asleep. Or If she had to be awake at such an unholy hour, having some quality time with her boyfriend.

While her fingers flew over her keyboard, Eriksen said, "I'm sorry for disturbing you over this, ma'am."

"Not your fault. He said it was an emergency. I'd rather be awake to deal with this, then asleep when there's a real emergency to deal with."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Her stomach cramped and it felt like it was trying to gnaw her spine in half. Right, coffee and a protein shake were most certainly not going to be enough to keep her going and she wondered if the mess had breakfast ready. And if so, did she have enough time to grab some? Then the glorious smell of bacon and eggs hit her nose.

Twisting around, she saw one of the workers from the mess come in pushing a cart loaded down with breakfast. While the aliens may have gone after the species of bovines in the world, at least they left chickens and pigs alone.

There were quiet murmurs of appreciation as people went one by one to get their breakfast. Van raised her eyebrows at John, knowing how fanatical he was about keeping Mission Control clean. She vividly remembered his explosion the time he found a burger wrapper stuffed under one of the consoles of the original Mission Control. He caught her look and raised his voice. "This is an exception, people. Keep it clean, or you'll be cleaning the consoles with your bare hands."

"You could at least give them toothbrushes, if only so they can reach the hard to reach spaces," she added on with a small smile.

His lips twitched in return, but he was all business as he said, "Seriously though, keep it clean."

There were assorted acknowledgements as she left her mug in a safe place before she wandered up to the cart to help herself to the first of several breakfast sandwiches with a large cup of orange juice. Van had wanted to make sure that her people had their fill before she gorged. She remembered joking with female friends that what a woman's real desire was to be able to eat whatever she wanted without it going to her hips.

What none of them considered was the metabolism that was required.

Between her regular, fairly intense, training and the genetic enhancements done to her, she _had_ to eat. So while she didn't have to worry about her hips anytime soon, she was quite aware of the fact she should have been more careful about what she wished for.

When John came up next to her with his own breakfast in hand, though keeping a sharp eye on the crew, she smiled at him and commented quietly. "You're the best boyfriend _ever_."

"Not that I'm arguing mind you, but what brought that on?"

"Having breakfast brought in for everyone here."

A faint smile touched his lips, though his eyes lit up. "That's being a good second in command, but will still take the best boyfriend ever title." He took a couple of quick, neat bites of his breakfast sandwich "Not that I'm going to make a habit of this, but figured this morning could make an exception."

"It's appreciated. I doubt if anything will come up while I went to get breakfast, but considering my luck, I'd be in the middle of stuffing my face and end up having to run back."

"The thought did cross my mind," John said with a hint of another grin. He continued on in his normal volume. "Besides, this will let us test out Shen's new toys."

Lily had been working on new drone designs based off some of the new tech the squad had been bringing in from their missions, ones with improved range, sensors and stealth abilities to help with recon. So this was a good test as he said. Except there was one problem with his statement. "Please don't call them toys to her face. She's as protective of her devices that her dad was."

John just coughed slightly and the tips of his ears turned red.

"Central…"

"Might have said something like that to her."

"Is that why she was so miffed with you yesterday?"

"Maybe."

She just shook her head with a faint smile and went to get more food.

By the time she was finished eating and on a third mug of coffee, Van was feeling more alert and a bit more charitable towards the world. Which proved to be a good thing when the missing Resistance members were located in a shattered shell of a suburb of Birmingham. They had hit an ADVENT checkpoint causing the troops to come swarming out like some very pissed off hornets from a broken hive.

And were now rapidly driving away from. It looked like there were two in the cab of the truck and three in the bed.

Mentally cursing the idiots out, she was glad she'd already had Kelly rouse up a squad to get going and Firebrand to prep the skyranger. This time she let John brief them, she was going to be busy enough as it is.

"Right, time to see what these drones can do. Give me a map of the area and patch into their communications."

The map was the easier of the two and Van gave a tight smile of satisfaction. It was almost the same quality of what she was used to from the old days. She quickly spotted an abandoned building that should give them enough protection to hunker down in until Menace 1-5 could get to them.

Next was the "interesting" part. Talking to the idiots. By then Tucker had joined Eriksen at the second comms station, between the two they had figured out which frequency their targets were using. There was a quiet huddle between the two.

"Problem?"

Eriksen answered for the two of them. "Sounds like the leader has the last name of Steele. He could be a younger brother of the Resistance leader or son."

Well, that certainly cleared up why Ethan was frantic to find them. It would've been nice if he'd included that little detail because it would have made contacting this crew a lot easier. Remembering to be civil and not let on of what she thought of the people she was contacting, Vanessa said briskly over her comm. "Mr. Steele, I'm -"

 _"Huh? Whoareyou? Whatchoowant? Getoffthisfrequency."_

Vanessa blinked. She'd heard people talk before, but never like this. It was almost as bad as the man who did the commercials for little toy cars when she was a girl. "Deep breaths, Mr. Steele, and _slow down_. We're here to help."

There was an explosion of sound that she thought were words, but couldn't be sure. Eriksen and Tucker hastily removed their headsets and rubbed at their ears. Van couldn't hide her sympathetic wince. That had to be hard on them with their specialized tech.

On the screen the group of five young men were still aimlessly driving from the rapidly advancing ADVENT forces. If they'd listen to her…

A different male voice came over the comms. _"Aidan, shut the fook_ up! _Let the woman talk."_

" _Why should I?"_

Letting her anger creep into her voice, she said. "I'm Vanessa McKenzie, Commander of XCOM and the soldiers that are on their way to save your sorry asses. Now if you'll shut up and listen, I can get you to a place to hole up until they can get there."

Central muttered. "Real diplomatic, Commander. ETA is fifteen minutes."

Yet another young male voice piped up. _"You bloody liar! Your dad didn't give you permission! Now he's sent_ XCOM _after us. Bloody XCOM of all people."_ There was a sudden pause. _"Uh, Commander, are you listening in?"_

Van replied calmly. "I'm here."

" _Oh, um, good. Uh, what do you want us to do, ma'am? Also, I'm Johnny, that blighter Aidan isn't going to be bothering you again."_

There was a quiet sound from John who was still standing next to her. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. She felt her own mouth twitch upwards in response, but kept her voice businesslike. "Go to the location I just sent you. If you'll trust me with the tactical decisions, I'll do what I can to keep you alive."

On the screen the icon for the truck sped up as it started to head to their temporary refuge.

" _Thank you, ma'am. We'll listen. Just…don't expect Aidan to be any use."_

"What did you do?"

" _Er, well, he might have a small case of unconsciousness."_

Oh god, it was like dealing with a pack of rookies. No worse than rookies. It was like the time they were sent a bunch of raw recruits who hadn't even gone through boot camp. They couldn't send the recruits back, they'd seen too much, so they were put through a rather rough

Well, that was one way of handling these kids. So she changed her tone to the one she used when dealing with reasonably bright, but clueless people, as she explained the rest of her plan.

There was a hint of amusement in John's expression. He commented. "You always did know how to talk to the rookies."

After giving the last of her instructions, she rolled her eyes a bit. "Yes, because talking to new soldiers like freshmen college students is such a wonderful way of dealing with people."

"Commander, they both generally come from the same pool of people."

"You might have a point there, Central," she replied as she watched the map, showing four people helping a fifth to keep moving.

By some miracle she managed to direct them to the building without ADVENT catching up to them.

Of course there was a complication. Like the fact the building was already occupied by two men. Armed men who had decided to camp out for much the same reason she had settled on, it was a good defensive position.

Over the comms she could hear a voice that sounded familiar, but couldn't place. An older man with an American accident. _"You boys picked the wrong place to come into. Best you get goin' now."_

John's eyes widened. "Tucker or Eriksen, can you either of you get the drone to give a better picture of who is in there?"

As they worked on his request, Van asked Johnny. "Can you see if one of those gentlemen will talk with me? Maybe we can make an arrangement?"

" _Um, sir, the Commander would like to talk with you."_

Van covered her face with the palm of her left hand.

" _You boys don't look like you're with a military unit."_

" _We're not, but we've got the Commander of XCOM on the line."_

Shit. She hastily changed frequencies to Firebrand's. "Is there any way you can get there any faster? I think these kids just dug themselves in deeper."

" _I'll see what I can do, Commander."_

"Thank you."

She switched over in time to hear the man growl. _"Fine, let's talk to this Commander of yours."_

There was a crackle of static as someone took off their headset to hand it over to the unknown man just as the drone maneuvered into place to provide a good image. John's eyes widened as he started to curse a bit, while a relieve smile crossed her face.

"Hello, Bulldog," she said, trying to keep her smile from her voice as she used Adam Kelly's old callsign. "This is Commander McKenzie. It sounds like you're causing trouble already and you're not even here yet."

There was a shocked silence then a wild whoop from the other end. _"Commander, you are back!"_

"Yes, I am, the reunion will have to wait, you've got some rather angry ADVENT troops on their way."

" _You always did know how to show us a good time, Commander,"_ Duane "Eagle" Robinson cut in. She wasn't surprised that he'd gotten his hands on one of the comms units. _"I'll go up on the roof to pick them off."_

" _I'll organize the kids,"_ Bulldog supplied. _"Though one of them seems a bit… out of it."_

Bulldog being diplomatic? That was new. Except the damn stasis thing was tripping her up again. He probably had to learn over time. "He was being an idiot, his buddies decided to knock some sense into him. Be careful, he's the son of the local Resistance leader."

There was an unimpressed grunt in response.

"Anyway, the cavalry should be arriving in approximately ten minutes."

" _This'll be just like old times then."_ There was the familiar sound of a shotgun being prepped in the background. _"My kid leading the squad?"_

"Yes, why? And better take up your positions, the opposition will be there in thirty seconds."

There was a chuckle, then a couple of barked orders telling the kids what positions to take up. _"I want this to be a surprise for her."_

"She's not the only one," John grumbled in her ear. "They told me that it was going to be a few more days before they would be able to meet up with us."

They were going to have a little chat about that. He'd conveniently left out the fact that they were going to be joining them. "I've been informed that your arrival is a bit earlier than anticipated."

Bulldog chortled. _"Made better time than expected, we decided to hole up for the day before meeting up with the cell operating out here._ " There was a crack of a sniper rifle. _"Dammit, Eagle, you're supposed to save us some."_

" _There's plenty left. Might want to move your slow, fat ass if you want to get in on the fun."_

Van found herself smiling at their familiar bickering. For a brief time she let herself forget about the lost time as she fell into old habits with her two veterans. In between cracks about each other's skills, or lack thereof, they did make encouraging ones when one of the kids made a shot.

Bulldog grunted at one point. _"Eagle eyed my left hairy nut. That unconscious kid can shoot better than that."_

" _You mean the one that you lost to the chryssalid a few years ago?"_

" _Nope, the one I almost lost when you misjudged your shot for that prone trooper."_

John exchanged grins with her. "They haven't changed a bit it seems."

"Hey Commander, Central, I didn't know there were any missions scheduled today." Lily said behind them. "Otherwise I would've been here sooner."

"This was a bit of an emergency, Chief," Van replied. "Though your new drones have been doing a great job for recon."

"Really? That's great!" Lily rushed over to one of the empty terminals to start doing something.

"Ah, just be careful please, we're still using them."

A thumbs up was the only response she got. Since there wasn't an interruption in the flow of intel, Van let it go.

It didn't take long for the two experienced soldiers to clear out the enemies, even if they were using it as a training lesson for the four kids.

The only problem that came up was when Bulldog decided it was time to check the bodies for anything useful. There were protests from three of the four conscious would be Resistance fighters. Johnny was the only one not to complain, but went out to help Bulldog.

There was some quiet gagging on the kid's part though, but he didn't complain.

"Might want to recruit that one, Commander," Central commented thoughtfully.

"Maybe, but I suspect this cell could use all the competent help it can get."

"Yeah."

Not long after that Firebrand arrived with Menace 1-5. As was usual, Shieldmaiden was the first down the fast rope and froze at the sight of her father. _"Da? What the hell are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to be rescuing some joyriders?"_

" _Is that anyway to greet your father?"_

" _It is when you're not supposed to be here."_

Father and daughter continued their discussion as they started loading people onto the skyranger. Shieldmaiden asked. _"Who's watching the cell and the farm with you and Eagle here?"_

" _You know we've got smart, capable folks, right?"_

Van cleared her throat. "You might want to take your conversation somewhere more private."

" _Sorry, Commander,"_ they chorused.

Once Firebrand was heading to the location of Steele's cell, Van said, "We should probably relocate the Avenger?"

"Hm?" John asked distractedly. "Oh. No. We're still secure."

"What's wrong?"

He rubbed a hand over his mouth as he stared at the map of the area of their just completed op. "Let's take a walk." He raised his voice. "Commander and I are having a conference in the bridge if we're needed."

There was a quiet chorus of acknowledgements. After all, this was nothing new if they needed to discuss something in private, but didn't want to go far from Mission Control.

Wondering what was going on, she walked along with him.

Once the door closed after them, he said, "First of all, this isn't meant to be a criticism, your plan worked quite well as usual."

She frowned at him, her confusion twisting up into concern.

He pulled out his tablet, tapped at it for a moment, then sent the file over to hers. Frown deepening she studied the map he sent to her. On it was another abandoned building that would have been easier for the kids to get to and just as defensible. If anyone had been in there was unknown.

The blood drained out of her head and she swayed a little. In a hoarse whisper, staring down at her table, Van said, "That building never registered on me. I…I don't know how I could miss something so obvious."

John tucked his tablet away, then took her hands in one of his and used the other to lift her chin up so she would look at him. His hands felt unusually warm to the touch, but she suspected he wasn't running a fever. He said gently. "Van, I think your subconscious knew that Bulldog and Eagle were in the building you directed those boys to. This is what I meant when I thought that you were psionically active before Tygan confirmed it."

She couldn't help the shiver that went through her. "I never thought myself as anything special other than my smarts and my hard earned skills."

Letting his hand drop away from her chin, he took the tablet out of her hands and set to the side then began to gently chafe her now frozen hands. "Van, anyone with your brains is pretty damn special. This is just something that just a…bonus."

"You're taking this better than I am."

"Angel, I've seen some seriously weird shit over the last couple of decades. That you have some sort of psi ability doesn't even come close to being weird these days." His dark brown eyes studied her. "Didn't mean to upset you. Just wanted to show that there is something to what Tygan claims."

She squeezed his hands. "You didn't exactly. I'm just weirded out. And please, don't be afraid to point out things I miss."

"IF I thought there was a problem, I'd say so."

"Thank you." Then she squinted at him. "Though it would've been nice if told me that you were expecting Eagle and Bulldog so soon so I could have warned Jane."

"Message came in last night. Was going to tell you this morning, but things didn't go as planned."

"Oh yes, the unexpected going exactly as planned."

He gave a rueful smile.

She rubbed her forehead. "Right, here's hoping the two of them settle down by the time they get back here and that they don't cause tension in the troops. If there is I'm sending Bulldog and Eagle back to wherever they came from. We have a good working team and I won't risk it breaking down in the mistaken belief that they need better training. Especially when they didn't give much warning about showing up."

"Agree with you on that. You don't seem entirely happy they were there."

"It was just the way they suddenly showed up. I don't handle surprises too well these days."

He snorted in response and before he could say anything, Tucker messaged her over the intercom. _"Commander, sorry to disturb you, but Shieldmaiden wanted me to pass on a message."_

"Go ahead."

 _"We've got two recruits besides the hitchhikers. Will explain on arrival."_

Thank you, Mister Tucker."

After the intercom clicked off they exchanged looks of dismay. John said thoughtfully, "Could always use more recruits. If they're the raw rookies from today they'll keep our two troublemakers busy."

"I like the way you think."

"Have my moments."

She laughed. "More than moments. I would be a mess without you to keep me going in the right direction" Van picked up her tablet and hooked an arm through his as he shook his head with a smile. "We should probably go back out and make sure no one else has run amuck."

"Run amuck," he repeated with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"What? Isn't that what happens when one of us isn't keeping an eye on things?"

"You may have a point there."

Mission Control was blessedly quiet when they emerged, though there were hints of approving smiles on some faces. It was otherwise quiet.

Until Firebrand arrived.

The first off the skyranger were two familiar, yet unfamiliar faces. They stopped dead when they saw her.

Bulldog had gotten his callsign from the fact he physically resembled said dog with the stubborn personality to match. Time had not been kind to his features. Eagle had gotten his name from his keen eyesight and his rather prodigious aquiline nose. Time had been kinder to him, though his skin now looked more like dried out leather than skin.

Both men crashed to halt, eyes wide with astonishment, but gave her picture perfect salutes.

Knowing how much that action meant to them, they'd saluted her as a point of honor, she stiffened her spine and gave them her best salute in return. Then reached out to shake their hands, a broad smile on her face. "You have no idea how good it is to see the two of you."

They broke decorum, instead of shaking hands as they'd done after a successful mission, both men hugged her tightly. She returned the hug since the two were more like the brothers she'd always wanted for all that she was technically their superior officer.

Seeing the ravages of time on them was as hard on her as when she first laid eyes on John and really knew who he was. Like John, they'd been around her age when HQ had been hit by the aliens.

The bittersweet reunion ended as soon as it started when she felt the unmistakable skin crawling sensation of psionic energy.

Without thinking she broke away from the two men and whipped out her pistol, yelling out in alarm. "Incoming!"

John took up a position at her back, his pistol drawn and looking for the threat.

There was silence as most of Menace 1-5 and the two men from the former Striker Alpha-1 looked at the two of them. Van realized that she didn't see Shieldmaiden and worried.

Body starting to shudder, Vanessa said through gritted teeth. "There's a lot of psionic energy. It's not the Shadow Chamber or the psi lab being built."

"Oh shite," said a woman with a strong British accent. "I am truly sorry, Commander."

The sensation faded, but didn't completely go away. The unknown woman growled. "Jay."

Another unknown voice, this one male with a faint drawl, spoke. "Right, right. Sorry about that."

Feeling vaguely stupid, Van put the safety back on her pistol, but didn't put it away just yet. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that John was still on guard.

"You are all complete and utter _fuckheads_ ," Shieldmaiden snarled from somewhere behind the crowd. She elbowed her way through. Van couldn't recall seeing the woman so pissed off. "I told you to be careful. The Commander is sensitive to psi energy, we don't have anyone who is psionicly active beside her, so she'll take any psi energy as an attack."

She glared at a man and woman that Van presumed to be the source of the psionic energy. The woman looked far too much like Ethan Steele for comfort, possibly his daughter since she looked too young to be his sister. Though where his features seemed weak, hers was strong, making her handsome for a woman rather than conventionally pretty.

The man beside her had a saturnine face with his black hair slicked back into a shoulder length ponytail and his eyes were hidden by a pair of aviator sunglasses.

"I'm Akadia Steele, Commander McKenzie," the woman introduced herself holding her hand out to Van. Her pale eyes regarded Van worriedly. Hoping she wasn't about to make a mistake, she put her pistol back into its holster and reached out to lightly clasp Akadia's hand.

There was only a faint tingle, but nothing unpleasant. "Welcome, Ms. Steele. I take it and your companion are our new recruits."

"Yes'm. My colleague here is Jay Sarin."

Sarin nodded to her, but didn't offer his hand. That was fine by Van since he seemed to have less control over whatever power he had than Akadia.

"Why don't we go in and talk? It's been a long morning for everyone."

The others headed in as she and John remained on the deck alone for a moment. "I feel like an idiot."

He snorted. "Hardly. We had no warning about friendly psionics. I didn't think there were any active human ones, outside of you."

Van rubbed the back of her head. "I have a feeling we're going to find out they're another alien experiment."

"Yeah, this should be…interesting."


	30. Chapter 30

_**March 6, 2035**_

 _ **08:30 Greenwich Mean Time**_

 _ **English Countryside**_

Seeing the time that was usually a half hour into her normal day, Van continued to feel irked by how the day was proceeding. It wasn't even the fact that she'd been poked awake so early. God knew, it wasn't the first time with XCOM, it most certainly wouldn't be the last.

No, it was the combination of events, she decided as she surveyed those gathered in her quarters. Seeing the number of people gathered on the couches, she realized that John knew better than she did that she'd likely accrue more people for her senior staff.

John was seated next to her, something he'd done automatically. Maybe they had some sort of unhealthy co-dependence thing going on, but for the moment she was grateful to have his warm, solid presence with her. It helped that he more than likely would end up acting as a buffer between her and the others if they managed to scrape her nerves raw.

At least the presence of the two psionics wasn't grated on her nerves. Either they had figured out how to mute their power or she was getting used to it. They sat opposite her and John, watching her warily.

Van hoped that she wasn't putting out any energy that grated on them, if she did she honestly had no idea how to contain it.

They'd been included due to what she wanted to call a hunch, but had to be honest with herself. It was from the same certainty she had about those idiot boys were to go for safety. The whole thing made her want to grind her teeth in frustration. Truth was, if she'd read this in a story she'd find her suspension of disbelief strained to the breaking point, but it was all too real.

Rather than let herself get even more out of sorts, Van shoved the thought away and considered the rest of her "guests".

On the couch neighboring the two psionics were the two Kellys with Eagle between them. She'd always known Eagle to be a brave man, but he really went up a notch in her opinion for braving that particular father and daughter pair.

Lily and Tygan were seated on the large individual chairs between the three couches. Neither had said much, but were clearly listening.

All eyes were on her as they waited for her to start this meeting.

She took a drink from her mug and decided to tackle the easy part first. "First things first. Bulldog, can you work with Shieldmaiden? If necessary take her orders?"

Jane looked at her suspiciously as Adam considered her questions. Finally he nodded. "Yes, Commander. I can."

"Good, then I'd like to welcome the three of you to my senior staff."

Eagle frowned. "Hey, does that mean I'm officially the referee for them?"

"You're the one who chose to sit there," she pointed out with a smile.

"Only because Central got the spot next to you, Commander."

John gave him a faint smirk. "Age and rank have their perks."

There was silence for a moment as Eagle boggled at him then started laughing when Bulldog snorted. Shieldmaiden and Van grinned a bit as Lily quietly snickered and Tygan shook his head with a faint smile.

The two psionics just stared at them in horror.

Van said to them, "You learn to laugh when you can in this business."

They looked at each other, possibly exchanging thoughts, though Van didn't sense any psionics in use. Sarin nodded. "I think I get it."

Tygan leaned forward. "I hope you can forgive my eagerness, but I understand that the two of you have active psionic ability?"

It was impressive that he'd waited as patiently as he did before asking.

Steele nodded. "Yes. I have some minor telepathic abilities and energy manipulation."

"What do you mean by that?"

The blond woman looked over at Van for permission. Impressed that she was a fast learner, Van mentally braced herself and nodded. Steele stretched out her right hand palm up and a crackling ball of lightning appeared and hovered in place.

Agony seared along her nerves just before the ball appeared.

The psionic took one look at her and hastily ended the display. Van found herself trying not to hyperventilate in the aftermath as her nerves still twanged from the display. That was a truly new and unpleasant reaction to anything related to psionic energy. Somehow she managed to keep her voice steady. "I'm going to have to ask that any further demonstrations be performed in a shielded area."

Sarin said, "Well, you don't have to worry about anything quite so dramatic from me. I also have a touch of telepathic ability, but the only thing I can do right now is provide some defenses against mental attacks."

That was a relief, she didn't want to find out what other types of psionic abilities would do to her sensitivity.

Tygan glanced at her and she could easily see that he was planning a whole new set of tests, then he turned his attention to the new recruits. "Did you activate on your own?"

"No," Steele replied in a flat voice. "We were part of a group of ten that the aliens were experimenting on regarding psi abilities in humans. We were the last left alive before we escaped."

Her companion gave John and her an odd look before picking up the story. "As much as I'd like to say we engineered our escape, it's because of some sort Resistance action that we got out. There was an attack on adjoining facility. The chaos provided enough of a distraction to let us get out. Fortunately, we were in the Paris city center and nearby Resistance forces got us to the cell run by Kadi's dad."

A silent exchange passed between John, Lily, Jane and Tygan. While that was going on, Van asked. "From what I understand from Shieldmaiden, you asked to join?"

Steele replied. "Yes. A few days after we were rescued by the Paris cell we started hearing about XCOM again. We heard rumors about your organization on and off over the years, but never anything concrete until a little a month ago. Now there's nothing but talk about your people and that you're getting results."

Whatever the silent conference was about ended and John asked, "When did your escape occur?"

Sarin turned to Steele. "End of January?"

"Yes, that sounds about right."

John shook his head. "Damn, wish we'd known, would've taken you with us then."

"It all worked out in the end," Steele said with a shrug.

Paris. End of January. They must have been kept near her prison. Though that wasn't quite the right term. Since John didn't seem inclined to mention what the mission was at the time, she'd go along with his lead.

She hated to sound so callous, but Van had to know. "How much are you two willing to develop your powers?"

God, she couldn't believe she was asking this in real life. An alien invasion was one thing. Humans with psionic powers were an entirely different matter altogether.

"If it means driving off the aliens," Steel said, "I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Sarin nodded vehemently. "Hell, yeah. After what they did to us alone? What else are they doing to other people?"

Vanessa thought about the blacksite, the…material made out of those poor people, whatever horror they might find at the next site. Maybe she'd had the wrong attitude, but there were some lines she still wasn't willing to cross. That was also a conversation she'd have later if necessary.

"In that case, welcome to XCOM as the first of our psi-operatives." She gave them a crooked grin. "Hope you're ready to work, because this means you get to setup the program."

"Subject to your approval, Commander," Sarin replied.

"Of course." She was grateful that they seemed to accept that without any issue.

Tygan got to his feet. "In that case, we can start the preliminary planning by going over the psi lab we're building. If you don't mind, Ms. Steele and Mr. Sarin."

"Sounds good, but just call me Jay, Doctor," he said.

Steele shrugged. "Probably not a bad idea. Soonest begun is soonest done, right?"

Shieldmiaden got to her feet as well. "And I better show them where they're bunking."

"If you're going to make any changes to one of my facilities, I'm going to be there." Lily declared.

The five of them headed off, already discussing the psi lab.

Once they cleared out, John idly commented. "I better make sure that everything is running smoothly in Mission Control. I'll talk to you later, Vanessa."

That left just Bulldog and Eagle. Adam grinned. "Don't think you're going to get rid of us that easily. We've got twenty years of gossip to catch up on."

Duane shifted to the empty seat recently vacated by Lily and started to lounge about.

She raised her hands up in protest. "I had nothing to do with that. As far as I can tell no one exchanged any messages." Van lowered her hands with a sigh. "As for the gossip, I'm afraid you're going to have a lot more than I do."

"What do you mean, Commander?" Adam asked warily.

"First of all, call me Vanessa. You are members of my senior staff and more than earned that right."

Duane frowned. "What are you trying to avoid? Does it have anything to with the fact that not only do you look a day older than the last time I saw you. If anything, you look younger."

"You're probably not going to believe most of it."

Adam snorted. "Vanessa, we live in a world where an alien invasion happened and they stuck around to run things. Supposedly for our own good. As if anything that can come up with those fucking chryssalids can be trusted to do anything _good_ for us."

They did deserve the truth, all of it. They'd been two of her staunchest soldiers before. So she gave them the barebones of everything that happened to her since the destruction of the old HQ. The two men listened with a patient silence she wasn't used to.

Van did leave out the part about her attempt at a drunken breakdown, she didn't need to undermine their confidence in her. How John never lost his still baffled her.

Silence lay heavily on the room when she finished and grabbed her mug to drink some of her now cold coffee.

Duane broke the silence first. "Man, that's some heavy shit. So they were using you against us all this time."

Adam leaned forward. "Central thinks you were trying to shield us and calling for help at the same time?"

She nodded. "Yes. Tygan is tentatively in agreement since he doesn't have anything to prove or deny that idea."

"I can see it. You always were rather protective of anyone you sent out."

"My job was to lead you and the other troops to the best of my ability. I certainly had no intention of treating you like a bunch of a cannon fodder in a first person shooter." She frowned a little. "You seem rather unfazed about me possessing some sort of psionic ability."

The two men laughed. Duane spoke first. "Shit, Vanessa, that first mission, the one we were sent in after that German recon squad. You seemed to know where the major hot spots were. Especially the guy with the grenade."

Van shrugged. "At the time it just seemed obvious to me. When I saw the gun in his hand and the grenade in the other combined with the way he was twitching…"

Adam nodded. "Yep. Glad you told me not to approach him like I was going to, that would've been messy. His eyes – brrr." He shivered and it didn't look fake at all. His expression was deadly serious. "I've seen similar since then, it hasn't gotten any less creepy."

If only she hadn't been so tired that night, maybe she would've realized the man who attacked John was mind controlled, but she couldn't change the past, only what she could do now.

Duane looked just as serious, which was unnerving. "The troops used to joke that you must've had some sort of sixth sense at times."

How was it that everyone seemed to think she was psychic or something when she never felt that way? She rubbed her forehead. "I'm only human."

"Are you? With all the gene therapy? And how extensive was it" Adam asked, leaning an elbow on a knee his hand cupping his lower jaw. He was watching her with the kind of intensity she remembered him using on potential targets.

Even though a few weeks ago it had led her to almost completely losing her mind, it was actually easier to talk about than her having weird mental powers.

"Tygan assures me that I'm still human, but the therapy is extensive. I can run a mile in four minutes without pushing, maybe faster now given the physical training I've been doing. My physical endurance seems to be equally increased." She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "As for my strength… I crumpled one of the hand railings around the hologlobe in Mission Control in a moment of anger. It's one of the hollow steel ones."

"Right, it's really a bad idea to piss you off now," Duane said with a shaky attempt at levity.

"I do have _some_ self-control, thank you." She fixed the two men with a hard stare, "Speaking of self-control. No pranks. Joking around is fine, but nothing like the shit you used to pull. My current troops are good people, but they aren't soldiers like what we used to have. They don't need encouragement with their less than well thought out moments."

Bulldog gave her an innocent look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Van snorted. "Says the man who convinced some of his teammates to form a throne out of your naked bodies in Mission Control."

"Well, it was your 30th birthday, we had to celebrate somehow."

Duane piped up. "Though to be fair there was a lot of alcohol involved before we did that"

She glared at them, "Or the time you sent Central to the infirmary when you had everyone dress up as mutons in Mission Control."

Both men looked sheepish and Bulldog said, "Yeah that one got out of hand even though there wasn't any booze involved in that one. Your message is received loud and clear."

God, she hoped so. She was more than a little worried about what they were going to cook up for her fiftieth birthday. She also didn't want to risk John actually having a heart attack if they gave him a similarly horrible shock. Just because his age didn't matter to her didn't mean she wasn't aware that he may have health issues due to how old he was.

In the hopes of changing the conversation to something more cheerful, "So what have the two of you been up to all these years?"

Duane smirked. "Besides being boils on ADVENT's ass?"

"What the fuck, Robinson?" Adam recoiled. "That's disgusting."

The sniper spread his hands. "What can I say? I have a way with words."

Adam just shook his head, and turned the subject to the farm he ended up returning to where his family lived. Hearing some of his reminiscing made her feel odd. The little girl he bragged on was now the commanding officer of the troops second only to Van and John. It seemed that Duane and some of the other veterans had made their way to join him.

The two men were very careful to avoid talk about the fall of HQ and stuck to stories that were mainly humorous. Usually at their expenses.

By the time they headed out, she was smiling and in a better frame of mind.

Van just hoped they'd remain on their best behavior. Otherwise she was going to find out if she could bounce them off the Avenger's landing pad hard enough to send them into low earth orbit.

After refreshing her coffee, she went to her terminal to get caught up on her reports. As soon as she did a message came up from John.

 _Short nap after lunch?_

She grinned in delight. A nap while cuddling up to the man she loved? That actually sounded fantastic.

She replied: _Yes! Seriously, you really are the best boyfriend_ ever _._


	31. Chapter 31

_**March 6, 2035**_

 _ **08:40 Greenwich Mean Time**_

 _ **English Countryside to Atlantic Ocean**_

When the group left the Commander's quarters, Jane took over without thinking about it. "Doctor, Chief, I'd like to get Steele and Sarin setup in the system and get their bunks assigned before they start going over the program and lab."

Tygan nodded. "That's a good idea. There's a few things I need to finish up in the lab."

"Okay," the Chief said easily, "How long do you think it'll take?"

"An hour at the most."

"Sounds good, Ms. Kelly," the doctor replied, "I'll see all of you then."

The Chief waved and headed off towards Engineering.

Steele frowned. "You're being very trusting."

Jane gave her a sharp smile and gestured for them to follow her. She and Jen Pense exchanged nods as she walked by with the two psionics. The grenadier was currently on Commander Watch, which had turned into fairly popular duty among the troops. She suspected in the cases of some it was because it was a fairly easy job. The rest because they truly liked the woman.

As they walked along she addressed Steele's concern. "Not as much as you might think. You passed the doc's scans for alien infiltration. You show no obvious signs of mind control. Besides the scans you'll have limited system access and no unsupervised outside communications at first."

The frown cleared. "Seems fair."

By then they were at the door to the troops living quarters. While it was a communal setup it was better than what she had on her Da's farm and seeming luxury to most of the others. Definitely better than the barracks Da and his fellow veterans had way back when.

"You're going to bunk us with the rest of the troops?" Sarin asked in an odd tone.

"There something wrong with that? If you can't be near the rest…" Jane trailed off as she tried to think of where she could stash them if they did need space or something.

Steele shook her head. "No, ma'am, it's just that when we were with the different Resistance cells they weren't exactly easy with us being near them on a regular basis."

"Were you screwing with their heads or something?" Best to get that concern out of the way.

"NO! Neither of us would ever do something like that," the blond woman said with her nostrils flaring out with indignation.

Sarin scowled. "Give us credit for having _some_ ethics at least. It's just like Kadi said. They weren't easy with us around them."

"Well, our folks are different. If anyone gives you a hard time, and you feel you can't handle it, I'll kick their ass. I'll kick your ass if you start shit. And may whatever god you follow protect you if you decide to mess with any displays of power outside of a shielded room."

They looked a little shocked. That was okay, Jane had a feeling the shocks were just beginning. The day had an exciting beginning, even if the shooting was over by the time her squad arrived to retrieve those kids. Not to mention Da and Uncle D. Shit. If she understood the Commander correctly, she was in charge of them now.

What kind of fucked up shit was that?

Jane decided she'd hash that out later as she led the way into the bunkroom and tried not to smile at the expressions of her newest soldiers. It seemed like they were used to awful conditions that too many people were used to, members of the Resistance or not.

Since those on the morning's "mission" were on downtime, they were the only ones in the room. Worley and Harkes were playing some sort of competitive fighting game with Curen and Brandt as an extremely vocal peanut gallery. Seeing the grenadier and her fellow ranger back on their feet so soon after their terrible injuries still amazed her.

"Hey Jane," Hause said from where he was lounging on the sectional in the middle of the room, watching something on his tablet with earbuds plugged in. Then he pulled out the earbuds and looked at the two people with her with curiosity livening up his hangdog features. "New recruits?"

That got the attention of the others and the game got put on hold for the foursome to peer at them with interest. Once introductions were made, she left the lot of them to get to know each other so she could get the system access setup and issue all of the gear they needed. Like many of their recruits, all the two had were the clothes on their backs.

Thankfully the raids they conducted in the last month had given them plenty of supplies to make what was needed.

By the time she was done with the setup, the new recruits had their pick of the free bunks and were starting to settle in with the squad. She cast a thoughtful look over the group. More like the squad was making them get settled in. There was a lot of excited chatter about the nature of their abilities.

It was Sarin's growl that caught her attention. "We aren't a circus performance."

Jane stood up. "Please tell me that I'm not going to have to start kicking people this soon."

Not surprisingly Worley looked sheepish. "Sorry, Jay and Kadi. Didn't mean to let my enthusiasm override my good sense." He spared a look at her. "Again."

Steele frowned for a moment, then nodded.

Jane had a feeling she had a new item to add to the list of finger breaking offenses. Though she supposed she should be grateful that they did accept the new people as well as they did. She handed over tablets to the new recruits for them to get setup that way. She glared at Hause and Worley. "No tweaking their tablets. With or without their permission."

Curen nodded sharply. "If I find out which one of you fuckers screwed with mine, I'll kick your ass. And I don't need my rifle either"

Thankfully that particularly fiery system failure occurred during a training run and not an actual mission. Also thankfully, Curen hadn't gotten more than singed eyebrows from the sparks. Neither man would confess to who did the modifications and there wasn't enough left of the tablet to make the determination.

Not surprisingly it had pissed off Chief Shen. The incident caused Central to be more growly than usual. Oddly enough the only thing the Commander had to say was a grumbled comment about more stupid shenanigans.

A very pointedly worded memo had gone out about unapproved modifications to any XCOM equipment.

Both psionics squinted suspiciously at Worley, but she was fairly certain they weren't using their powers, but they didn't say anything. The hacker squirmed under their scrutiny, but kept his big mouth shut.

Resisting the urge to rub her suddenly aching head, Jane said, "Steele, Sarin, time to get moving."

Maybe it was a little earlier than intended, but she needed to break this up fast. She'd have a little chat with Worley once she deposited the new people in R&D. It seemed like he had been the instigator of today's issue. As usual.

Once they were in the corridor and no one else was around, she casually asked, "So, besides Worley, anyone else give you a hard time?"

Sarin shook his head. "They were excited, but didn't make me feel like some sort of freak."

"To me they just seemed excited to have some new faces." Steeled added on. "Yes, they were interested in our unusual abilities, but that seemed secondary."

"Good. And yeah, most of them would be happy to see new faces, we're a pretty small crew."

All three were silent from there. Jane used the time to try to think of how she was going to ream Worley a new asshole and figured she'd ask her Da for suggestions since he might have an idea how to get through to the fathead. Since he was supposed to help with training and all.

When they arrived, the doctor was laying out some equipment on a tray. He seemed to have some sort of contained excitement in his voice. "Ms. Kelly, Mr. Sarin, Ms. Steele. Good. If you'll stay here, Ms. Kelly, there's something I'd like to go over with you while the other two start discussing the psi lab with Shen."

The two bid their farewells and went off in search of the chief. Curious, Jane asked, "So what did you want to talk to me about, Doctor?"

"My team has found a way to provide permanent genetic enhancements."

That news caused her to rock back on her heels. This was potentially huge. "You mean like what the Commander has?"

"Based off that, yes. At this time we can only enhance one aspect of someone's physiology without complications, since I don't want to risk overloading anyone's system."

"Understandable. So beside the one upgrade at a time, what are the limits?"

"Pretty much anything you can think of."

She thought that over and had a good idea of what the troops, male and female, would go for if given a choice. "I wouldn't phrase it like that Doctor. They're not likely to go for something useful for their duties or life in general. "

"I don't quite follow. "

"Sex, Doctor. I know my boys and girls. If they're given a choice, they're going to go for something that'll improve their sex lives rather than something practical."

It was a little hard to tell with his skin tone, but it looked like the man was blushing. Jane was both amused and surprised by his reaction. She thought he'd been working with soldiers long enough to get usec to their bluntness. Especially since he'd been the only one to patch them up until they recently got the new doc.

Yep, he was definitely blushing when she took a closer. He coughed a little. "I'll, ah, take that under advisement." He cleared his throat again. "I know this is sudden for you, but do you have something in mind?"

"Looking for a guinea pig?" she asked with a grin.

He glared at her over his glasses. "No. The models have already been run to my satisfaction for the single enhancements, they're quite safe. I thought that you might want to be the first to try."

"I was trying to joke with you, Doctor. But I do actually have something in mind."

The Doctor ignored her first comment as he picked up an unknown…thing. "What did you have in mind?"

Jane eyed the thing warily, she had the feeling this was going to be unpleasant. "Something that can improve my agility or speed." She rubbed her left shoulder uneasily. "So how long is this going to take? We can't exactly afford for me to be down for any long period of time."

"I can make something that'll be a combination of the two. As for how long it'll take, not very. It's a simple injection and the process itself takes maybe a few hours to complete. As long as you restrict yourself to light duty for the remainder of the day, you should be fine."

Should be, Jane thought sourly. "Any symptoms I need to be aware of if something does go wrong?"

Another look over the glasses, but his tone was civil enough. "Not an unreasonable question. Fever, severe body aches, crampy nausea."

She rubbed the back of her neck, wondering what she was getting herself into. "So like a bad flu, then?"

"Yes."

"And this permanent? It won't just fade out at some point?"

"That is correct."

Jane thought about it as the man waited with an unusual patience. This was the edge she'd been hoping for. "All right, Doctor. Guess this is the moment of truth. Hit me up."

He nodded, tapped on the piece of equipment in his hand, then pulled out a vial that got inserted an injector. Jane braced herself for the worse, but all she felt was the usual slight puff of air against her neck and nothing else. "That's it?"

That got her a slight smile. "Expecting something more dramatic?"

"Well, yeah. You're re-writing my genes, right?"

"To a certain extent, yes. I wanted to minimize the impact on anyone who agreed to the treatment."

"Fair enough. Thank you, Doctor."

"I would appreciate it if you came by tomorrow morning to let me examine you to make sure everything has gone as expected."

"Sure, Doctor. I better get going so I don't hold you up from your duties."

"Farewell, Ms. Kelly."

Since that went better than expected, even if she was starting to have doubts about what Tygan did. With her luck he got confused and gave her a vaccine or something. Mentally shrugging that off, she returned to quarters to drag Worley off for a private chat and figure out what new punishment she had to come up with to get it through his thick skull about annoying people.


	32. Chapter 32

_(Author's note: I have played Shen's Last Gift and I'm honestly not sure I can fit it into this story, but I will see what I can do.)_

 _ **March 7, 2035**_

 _ **08:30 Eastern Standard Time**_

 _ **New Jersey Countryside**_

It was more than a little surreal to be watching Van at one of her training sessions. Mainly because Robinson was on one side of him with Kelly on the other. The three of them were watching her spar with Jane since the erstwhile trainers wanted to get a feel for what the troops did, and did not, know., Granted it wasn't the first time he'd done so, but it just felt odd to have other people watching with him. Considering the relationships involved, this had the potential to become rather messy.

He studied the two women thoughtfully, trying to figure out what was different. That they were laughingly giving each other shit as they traded blows was nothing new. While there was a certain decorum between Commander McKenzie and Operative Kelly, there was a growing friendship between Athena and Shieldmaiden.

"So much for a purely professional relationship between you and Vanessa, Bradford," Bulldog commented quietly.

Somehow he kept his voice down as he growled. "What the hell?"

"Figured I'd start off with something easy."

 _"Easy,"_ he snarled.

"Yep. Because I want to know what the hell you people did to my daughter."

Bradford turned to the other man with a scowl. "What's your problem this morning?"

"Exactly what I said. Yesterday she was moving like normal. Now she's moving almost like Vanessa does. Too fast. Too smooth. Almost on the verge of not human."

Robinson glared at the two of them. "Guys, this isn't the place."

Jane announced a little too loudly behind him. "Okay folks, 15 minute break from training, clear on out."

Eagle started to stride off with the rest of the soldiers, except Jane snapped. "Plant your feet, Robinson. This includes you."

It didn't take long for the troops to take off and no surprise why. He couldn't remember ever seeing Jane this pissed off. Right behind her was the Commander with a blank expression that didn't bode well.

Planting her fists firmly on her hips, Shieldmaiden snarled. "You are aware you aren't as quiet as you think?"

Oh. Shit. If they heard everything Kelly had said, no wonder the two women were pissed. Also Jane had sent notification about her being the first to try the new gene modifications that Tygan had come up with. Tygan had sent a confirmation, then a follow up before training that so far Jane was doing as well as expected with no side effects.

Clearly someone didn't read the memos.

"Look, kiddo," Bulldog started to say, but a sharp knifehand from Jane shut him down.

"See, Instructor Kelly? This is why the Commander asked yesterday if you could handle orders from me. Cause that also implies that you can handle whatever decisions I make without your input. That includes if I'm going to allow the gene therapy that Doctor Tygan came up with. Which I did, if you bothered to read any of the notifications I sent last night and this morning."

Bulldog's expression froze in one of shock. Central stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt a member of the senior staff when she had a point to make.

"So I'm gonna repeat what the Commander asked. Can you handle me giving you orders from decisions I've made? Can you handle me making decisions for _myself_ as a competent grown woman? Think carefully on it, Mister Kelly. If you say yes now, but pull this same kind of shit, I'll personally drop kick you from the observation deck while the Avenger is in flight."

The elder Kelly blinked then laughed nervously. "Message received loud and clear, Shieldmaiden."

The lights overhead flickered.

Central felt the bottom of his stomach fall away. Were they under attack?

Worried as the lights flickered again, he tapped his comms to Tucker in Mission Control. "Status report."

" _It's the Shadow Chamber, sir. It's drawing an enormous amount of power as well as the ship's computer."_

Vanessa had evidently been listening in since she barked out. "Cyber! Bird dog! Get to Mission Control –"

A muffled explosion could be heard in the distance, interrupting her, and causing the Avenger to shudder underfoot.

The soldiers came boiling out of the rear of the armory with weapons at the ready, Worley and Hause ran by them on the way to Mission Control. The others stopped before Van with a couple of them handing over shotguns to her and Shieldmaiden. "Central, I need you at Mission Control, the rest of you on me, I'll give the plan on the way there."

Bradford waited long enough to let the troops head out, then briskly headed towards Mission with Eagle and Bulldog hot on his heels. The two specialists were already set up and starting to monitor the computer systems with their gremlins buzzing about handling remote tasks for them.

One of the large displays showed that Athena and Shieldmaiden were already at the door of the Chamber, one on either side of the entryway, guns at the ready when Shen came out. The Chief was covered in soot and numerous small cuts.

She froze when she saw the armed response, then yelled over her shoulder. _"Dammit, Tygan. Your stunt set off the troops."_

Tygan emerged looking unruffled, even though he too was covered in soot and small cuts. _"Commander. Ms. Kelly. I assure you, everything is fine."_

While Van thought that over, Bradford said, "Please tell me that we have some sort of video feed on what happened in there."

Hause grunted. "Working on it."

Worley piped up. "So far system is clear, but it looks like a lot of info in the data storage of the Shadow Chamber seems wiped clean."

Over the comms, he heard Van say tightly. _"All right. Meeting in my quarters in an hour. This had better be good."_

"All right, think I got the feed recreated, Central," Hause finally said. "It's some weird shit, sir."

It had to be when he saw the state of the Shadow Chamber. There were sparks of electricity spraying out of damaged equipment and the main containment unit's glass enclosure was shattered. In the center of the base of the enclosure was the smoking, cracked remains of the codex brain.

He could see Van standing just inside of the room, her left hand on her hip, the right holding the shotgun with the weapon pointed up towards the ceiling.

She should have looked ridiculous dressed in her t-shirt, shorts and sneakers with gun in hand. One look at her expression just made her terrifying.

"Put it on the secondary display." He wanted to keep an eye on his furious Commander, so he was going to leave the live feed up. She and Shieldmaiden advanced further into the room, looking for threats. Outside the rest of the troops were forming a defensive perimeter. Normally it was a bad idea to have leadership investigate a scene like that, but in all honesty they were the best suited for any type of threat.

Shieldmaiden cautiously prodded at the brain with the butt of her gun and it crumbled into a steaming pile of debris. He shook his head slightly and hoped that Tygan still didn't need the thing for anything.

Then the smaller display to his right flashed before bringing up a flickering image of the Chamber a few minutes before the blast. Shen and Tygan were working frantically at separate consoles while it looked like a codex was caught in the containment facility. He winced a little at the way it writhed, seemingly in pain, from whatever was being done to it.

Feeling his blood pressure start to rise from the video, Central hastily turned it off. "Well, Athena?"

 _'Looks like any threat presented by the codex is over. I figure it's going to take a week or so for the Chamber to be cleaned up and repaired."_

He grimaced at the thought of all the lost intel that meant. "Nothing salvageable?"

 _"I have to leave the final determination to the Chief and her people, but I think half the equipment here is still usable. Anyway, I'm letting the techs in to get started on the repairs. Don't forget the meeting."_

"Will see you in an hour, Commander."

For a moment, he watched as she cleared out the soldiers with a gesture before she and Shieldmaiden started ambling back towards the armory, talking intently about something. Bradford shook his head slightly, then took the feeds down from the display.

A presence loomed up behind him and a quick glance confirmed who he thought it was. "Let's walk and talk, Adam."

"Don't you have work to do?"

"There's a discussion we need to have right now that's more important. Weather isn't too bad outside, so we'll take it there."

Bradford didn't know where Robinson had taken himself off to, hopefully wherever he'd gone, he wasn't antagonizing everyone around him. To use one of Van's more colorful descriptions, Kelly was a spiky ball of unhappiness beside him as they headed out of the Avenger. Once he was satisfied they were out of earshot of the sentries, he rounded on the other man. "Want to explain what the fucking problem is, Kelly? Because right now I'm tempted to kick you and Robinson out of here back to your farm."

Kelly jammed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I'm not sure you'd understand, Bradford."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Try me."

"It was bad enough seeing the Commander the way she is now. Seeing my kid being…shit. I don't know. Altered? Between one day and the next like that. It just…flipped something in my head."

"Told you that Tygan was working on giving our troops a boost and Jane was the one pushing for it." He couldn't help scowling. "Besides, we both would've jumped on this during the invasion."

"Yeah, I have no issue applying it to myself, though it'd be foolish at my age, my kid though. That's where I have the problem."

"Know Jane's your daughter, but she's also an adult who has been serving in XCOM for some time now. She's a valued member of the team and I won't have you disrupting things."

A mulish look developed on the man's face. "Shouldn't that be the Commander's decision?"

"That was her opinion the moment you two jokers made your unexpected presence known. I happen to agree with her." Besides handling personnel issues being one of his job duties, handling this was his personal matters since he was the one that reached out to Robinson and Kelly. Then there was also the fact he didn't want to see what the Commander would do if she got truly pissed off.

Kelly didn't say anything, so Bradford continued. "So I'm going to ask a third time and you don't have to answer right away, but you definitely need to think about it. Can you take Jane's orders? And implicit in that question is not just her orders to you, but what she decides to do for herself."

Bulldog scrubbed his face. "I think I do need time to think it over. If you don't mind, I'll start that now. I'll be back inside in time for the meeting."

"All right, see you then." He turned to head back to the ship and to hopefully get a little work done before the meeting.

"Hey, Bradford?"

He paused to look over his shoulder at Kelly. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about the crack I made about you and the Commander earlier."

"Noted." He continued on his way. He wasn't quite ready to accept the apology. Bulldog always did talk without engaging his brain, but today the man had been particularly bad. Or maybe he'd always been like that and distance had blunted his memories.

The next half hour in Mission Control was blissfully quiet as he caught up on the morning reports.

Bradford found himself dreading the meeting as he headed for Van's quarters.

Tygan and Shen arrived at the door the same time he did. The two of them paused, looked at each other then at him.

He couldn't quite keep his amusement out of his voice. "The Commander isn't going to bite your head off, now. It's why she didn't meet with us right away."

Van spoke up behind him. "She will bite them off if you don't get your asses in gear."

Bradford turned around to see her leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Fortunately, she didn't seem angry or annoyed.

Once they entered the room, Bradford saw that Jane, Robinson and Kelly were waiting for them. When Shen and Tygan seated themselves, he found the only seat open to him was next to Van. Not that he was going to complain, but he wasn't quite sure what to think about the others arranging things the way they did.

As soon as he was seated, Van got straight to the heart of matters. "Please tell me that blowing up the Shadow Chamber was worth it."

Shen rubbed her forehead. "I don't know about that, Vanessa. Besides the containment area, we lost all the information we had stored in there."

"About the data, I can rest your mind on that," Van replied with a smile. "The backups up until this morning's adventure are uncorrupted."

There was a palpable air of relief.

"In that case," Tygan sad. "While there's still more information to unravel from the codex data we retrieved from the 'brain' before it destroyed itself, we do have a set of coordinates. It's for an area of on what used to be the border of Alaska and Yukon."

"Well, we'll check out the facility the blacksite vial led us to first. Then we'll see what we can do about this other set of coordinates. Is there anything else? No? All right. You're all free to your duties. Central, if you'll bide a moment?"

The others quickly cleared out and as soon as they did Van got to her feet to pace restlessly, rubbing her hands nervously. "Can Adam and Duane do the job we brought them on for?"

He'd wondered when she was going to ask that. With a heavy sigh he leaned his head back against the couch. "Robinson isn't a problem. Kelly on the other hand… I really don't know. He did ask to think about the situation regarding Jane."

She nodded and was silent for a moment. "Did I make a mistake bringing Adam back?"

That threw him. Van hadn't asked something like that long before she was taken, but he gave her concern some thought. "Don't think so. You didn't expect the situation to turn out the way you did."

"Yeah." She rolled her shoulders to loosen up the tense muscles. "Keep feelers out for replacements, just in case. Otherwise, we'll just have to keep making do if we have to send him packing. Which I hope we won't."

"It's all we can do."


	33. Chapter 33

_(Author's note: Given the way my schedule is like lately, I'm going to have to adjust my updates to just once a week on Mondays. If it changes, I'll go back to twice a week.)_

 _ **March 9, 2035**_

 _ **11:30 Eastern Standard Time**_

 _ **New Jersey Countryside**_

Midnight raids should be illegal, Van thought, then mentally laughed. Of course they were illegal considering that ADVENT was in charge of the world. She was just annoyed that she'd been talked into doing the hit on the facility so late. It wasn't even necessary since it was out in the middle of nowhere where it was highly unlikely for civilians to be roaming about.

When she saw Jane waiting for her by her armor, her mood turned from grumpy to wary. Her best scout seemed to have something on her mind "Evening Jane. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The dark haired woman rubbed the back of her head under her ponytail. "It's just…the troops have been bugging me with this ridiculous request."

"We've got time, let's hear it." Van figured it'd prove amusing the way Jane was acting. Even if she ultimately said no, it was something she and John could laugh about later.

Jane grimaced. "They want a trophy room."

There was a sudden mental image of a wall full of sightless alien heads and her stomach roiled unpleasantly. Particularly since she was fairly certain they didn't have any taxidermists on staff so that image consisted of decaying alien heads. Somewhat faintly she asked, "A…trophy room? What do they want as trophies?"

That got her another pained expression. "What do you think, Commander?"

"A wall full of heads."

"Pretty much."

"And just where did they want this trophy room?"

"You know that small, oddly shaped room off of here? The one that the Chief's people haven't decided how to use it?"

"I'll think about it."

"If you want to say no, Commander, that'll be just fine with me."

Van gave her a wry grin. "Not a fan of the idea yourself?"

"No. It sounds disgusting. And I'm not sure we have the means to preserve them properly." Yep, Jane had a similar mental image.

A thought struck Van. "Does it have to be the actual heads?"

Jane scratched her jaw thoughtfully. "I'd vastly prefer to avoid anything made out of real body parts. What did you have in mind?"

"We could have a screen, or screens, setup showing an image of the alien and how many of each have been killed. Then if there's any particularly memorable trophy that isn't a part of something's body, we could have that on display."

A slow grin formed on Jane's face as she listened to Van's suggestion. "I like it. Even if the troops don't get exactly what they want, it's better than nothing."

"Good. Arrange it with Shen later."

"All right, I will. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Van looked at the armor and grimaced. Getting into the ballistic armor had been bad enough, but the boxy predator armor that Lily had come up with based off the ADVENT armor was a bit of a pain.

"Need a hand?" Jane asked a little too blandly.

"Thanks, but I've got it. I need to be able to do this myself."

"Okay, bosslady!" Jane said cheerfully. "Let me know if you need help."

"I will. Thanks again. The one I have a feeling that'll need help is Sarin."

There was a flash of a wicked grin. "Defcon and Brandt have him covered."

"Are we going to have a psi-operative left by the time they're done?" Van vividly remembered what it was like having those two show her how to strap on armor and that was just the ballistic stuff. When they strapped something tight. It was _tight_. It was worse than the one time she tried on a corset.

"You're still around, aren't you?"

Van muttered. "No thanks to them."

Jane laughed then walked off with a bounce in her step. Van shook her head to herself as she started to open up the armor to get into it.

A familiar limping gait drew her attention and she looked at John with a faint frown. He settled down on a nearby crate of supplies with a sigh and rubbed his face. "I'm all right, Van. Just spent too much time on my feet today." He gave her a tired smile. "Just gonna ask that you don't fuss too much." A glint entered his gaze. "If you don't, I won't ask if you need help getting into your armor."

She laughed. "There are times, Central Officer Bradford."

He grinned in return, then he turned serious. "You going to be okay with this?"

Van began to climb into her armor. "With the coming fight? Or what we might find?"

"More about what you might find. Fighting the aliens, think you'll be okay."

"I think I'm resigned to finding horrors," she said quietly as she finished wriggling into the armor and began to seal it. "I just hope my squad is ready for that too."

John gave her a faint smile.

She frowned. "What?"

"My squad?"

"Damn. I guess I wasn't thinking." She stomped down into the boots making sure that her feet were firmly seated.

"That's a good thing. You're getting used to the thought of leading in the field."

Flexing her hands to make sure the gloves were set right, Van studied him. John seemed genuinely pleased with that. "You really are okay with me going on this mission? I know I said never again, but -"

He held up a hand. "First, don't need my permission, but am all right with you doing this. It's something you feel the need to do. Besides, having more combat experience under your belt is a good thing."

John carefully levered himself to his feet and limped over to her, then picked up her helmet, then looked inside it a little incredulously. "There's a mindshield built into it."

She smiled smugly at him. "Yep. All of the helmets actually. It was one of the little projects that I had Lily work on. Figured out people face enough sectoids alone that it was worth it. Sarin also assured me that the shield won't block our psi-operatives who wear them from using their abilities."

"It's a good idea." Under the guise of putting on her helmet, he caressed her cheek. "Just… be as careful as you can out there."

Placing her hand over his, she promised. "I will."

He stepped back. "Anyway, you'll have a solid team at your back."

"The only reason why I'm giving into my anger to do this."

"Heading back to Mission Control. I'll see you later."

"Later, John."

She watched him limp off, trying not to worry about his leg. Then she shook herself, partly to get her mind on the mission and partly to make sure the armor was firmly settled in place, before heading off to gather up her squad.

When they were finally on Firebrand and en route, she said, "I don't know what we're going to be facing in this facility, but the material in the vial you found at the blacksite led us here. Thanks to the Shadow Chamber, the Chief was able to give us a rough idea of what we'll be facing. There's the usual complement of ADVENT troops with the presence of sectoids, vipers and at least one codex."

There were groans at the mention of the codex.

She gave them an understanding smile. "I know, but we do know how to deal with them now."

A rare smile creased Slinger's scarred face and she patted her sniper rifle. "Got the solution right here."

There was laughter from everyone except Sarin, who looked a little pale, but it looked like Jane had him in hand. Good, because she really wasn't up to trying to manage a nervous rookie just before this mission.

Thankfully the flight wasn't long so she didn't work herself up into a tizzy. Of course, Menace 1-5 was in rare form and wouldn't let her dwell on things in her own head. They of course were excited and raring to go about this raid and weren't going to let Athena keep to herself.

Firebrand landed and they unloaded in good order, weapons at the ready. The pilot's voice crackled in Van's ear. _"Good luck."_

"Thanks, Firebrand." Surveying the area she contacted Central. "How are the drones doing?"

" _They've been deployed, Bird dog should be getting the feed shortly. I can tell you that there's a guard post about 200 meters to your northwest. Sending the exact coordinates to your tablet now."_

"Good. Thank you." She looked at the small tablet secured to her left forearm where an abbreviated map appeared marking her location and the location of her destination. It was a similar setup to what the specialists had to control their gremlins, but it was meant to help her coordinate her information flow while out in the field. Not to mention marking where her objectives were.

Once she was positive about the way to the post, she softly gave the directions to the post and the order to move out. As she moved in their wake, with Shieldmaidenin thelead, she was pleased to see that they were spread out to avoid any possible grenade or missile fire.

When they arrived in the vicinity of the post, Bird dog sent his gremlin for a quick flyby to see how many hostiles were in the area. After a moment, he held up two fingers indicating the number detected then gave the sign for one on patrol. Athena nodded her understanding then waved Shieldmaiden to come with her.

It was frightening to think that she was the second most stealthy person on the squad.

Athena watched the one trooper casually strolling around the small outbuilding, then did her best to match her steps with his, her footsteps loud in her ears and her heartbeat even louder, but he didn't seem to notice. Hoping she wouldn't screw up, Athena lunged, wrapping her left hand around his mouth and lower jaw with her right on his right shoulder and yanked. Hard.

The sickening crack was deafening to her, but she didn't let the body clatter to the ground. Instead she slowly lowered it to the ground and crouched over it, alert for any alarms. Instead Shield casually came out of the post and softly commented. "Clear, Athena. Good work."

She straightened up slowly, armor creaking slightly. Sent the signal to the rest of the squad as she replied. "Maybe you were right in your choice with the spider suit."

"Nah. You need the protection of the predator armor. Since you move quick enough, most people won't hear you coming." The ranger gave her a feral smile. "And if they do, you'll still them. Just the loud and messy way."

She couldn't help smiling at the other woman's words. Bird Dog was the first on the scene and he flashed them a quick smile as he headed into the post. The rest of the team took up guard positions.

The specialist was inside for a short time before emerging with his report. "Okay, boss. I'm in. Their security system won't pick us up until one of their people trigger it."

"Good. Were you able to hack into their main systems for the onsite data?"

He shook his head. "They're separate from each other, which is smart of 'em. There's something else you should know."

"What's that?"

"They're testing a prototype of some sort here, but no details as to what it is."

"All right, we'll just keep our eyes peeled. Let's get going."

Menace 1-5 moved out in good order, encountering only one other patrol that was easily dealt with.

Finally they arrived at a narrow bridge that just screamed trap if they moved together en masse. "Bird dog, see if you can find another way across."

There was a ground shaking thump. Then another. And another. The squad looked around warily trying to pinpoint the source.

Then came a horrifyingly familiar mechanical squealing rattle.

Trying to keep her voice down, Athena said. "Spread out. Now. Sectopod. Do not engage in close quarters."

Athena had proven herself to them that they did as ordered without questioning. Slinger had just settled herself in a good perch when the mechanical monstrosity came into view.

It wasn't the sleek thing that had reminded her of robot from an old sci-fi movie about a cybernetic law enforcement officer that had devastated earth's heavy cavalry units so badly. Instead it looked like a massive black box with red accents on giant chicken legs.

The machine paused and rose up to tower over the area to scan it. At least that's what she thought it was doing.

A slight sensation of pressure skimmed along her skin, then Sarin spoke over the comms. _"Athena. You said they're called because it was believed they're piloted by sectoids, right?"_

"Yeah, why?" She continued to watch the thing trying to decide how they were going to take it out. They had to, otherwise this was going to get somewhat rougher than anticipated.

" _I'm not detecting any thoughts coming from it. It's purely mechanical."_

Well, so much for Tygan's assurance that they didn't rely on intelligent AIs. Also, that explained why they blew up when damaged enough.

"Slinger, this is going to be mainly on you and Defcon to soften up. Everyone else, do what you can, but remember to stay as far away as you can so when it blows, you don't get caught in it."

" _Athena_ ," Bird dog said over the comms. _"Permission to attempt to hack? Think can at least shut it down."_

"Granted."

The gremlin zipped off and when it arrived at the sectopod it looked like a gnat in comparison. The giant robot suddenly contracted down into a large box with its legs tucked inside. In the distance a siren blared out. That couldn't be helped, it would've triggered the moment they attacked.

"Menace 1-5, it's all yours."

At Slinger's gesture, Defcon opened up on the robot first, shooting a small missile from the miniature rocket launcher mounted in the forearm of her armor. Athena couldn't help smiling at that since she knew how much the grenadier had been itching to use her new "toy".

She just hoped Defcon wasn't too disappointed by the fact the thing was barely scratched by her weapon.

The blue haired woman just grunted in annoyance and began to advance along the bridge. While she did that, Slinger took aim with her rifle.

Shieldmaiden contacted her while the sniper was lining up her shot. _"Hey boss, if you don't mind, gonna use my grapnel to cross to the other side of the ravine to keep an eye out for incoming."_

"Do it."

The bark of Slinger's gun covered any noise that Shieldmaiden's grapnel might have made. There was a shower of sparks, but it still sat there. The rest of the squad opened up, but it seemed as if their fusillade didn't do much more damage.

Bird dog announced. _"The shutdown won't last much longer."_

"Just keep doing what you can," Athena replied as she ran towards the bridge. She really couldn't do much about the sectopod, but she could join Shieldmaiden in keeping an eye out for the arrival of the rest of the enemy troops.

She got to the end of the bridge just in time to see a patrol of a codex and two vipers, causing her to mentally groan to herself. She subvocalized into her comms. "Slinger, get the codex."

" _Right."_

The shot nailed the codex right between its "eyes" in mid flicker, the head falling with a soft _fwump_ on the ground as the "body" dissolved. The two vipers hissed and raced into cover. A shotgun blast from off to the side announced Shieldmaiden's presence and took out one of the vipers.

The other viper launched its tongue out at Athena and missed as she dropped down to avoid the flailing organ. With an angry hiss it spat out a gobbet of poison that turned into a cloud around her as soon as it landed. Since she was in the middle of an inhalation of breath, Athena got a good lungful.

The burning agony in her mouth, nose, throat and lungs was indescribable. It was almost worse than the implant removal she'd undergone a month and a half before.

Desperately trying not to inhale anymore of the poison, Athena staggered back, tripped over something and fell to her back wheezing.

Loud shouting started over her comms, including Central's voice. She managed to suck in enough clean air to gasp out. "Fine." She coughed and felt like something was shaking loose in her chest. "Stay. Focused." Sucked in more clean air. "On. Targets."

There was another shotgun blast ahead of her.

Somehow she found the strength to roll over and coughed more. This time something broke loose and came up. She looked down to see some sort of frothy green goop and coughed up more gunk. If she didn't know better, her body was trying to purge itself of the poison.

Footsteps came pounding up to her from both ends of the bridge and she braced her back against the wall with her shotgun at the ready despite her shaky grip. Thankfully the footsteps belonged to Cyber and Shieldmaiden.

She went to speak, but coughed up more green crap before the words would come out. "Said I'm _fine_. There's a target that needs to be taken out."

Wonder of wonders, this time nothing came up and it didn't feel like anything else was rattling around in her chest. Her respiratory tract was sore as hell, but that seemed to be fading as well.

Cyber grunted as he used his gremlin to examine her and send the results on to the Avenger while Shieldmaiden stood guard over them both. "You don't have Central barking in your ear. 'Sides the others have the robot in hand."

The night was lit up with fire and thunder as the sectopod blew up. That was a much bigger explosion than she remembered in the past. "Where's Defcon?"

"At the end of the bridge," Shieldmaiden replied.

"Where was she before that? And I'm fine Cyber, just give me a hand up."

The combat medic frowned at his readouts, then gestured the gremlin away from her before extending his hand. She took his hand and pushed herself to her feet. Then wiped her mouth and chin with the back of her hand, grimacing at the…stuff on it.

Shieldmaiden studied her for a moment, then shook her head. "I'll just say that Defcon still has plenty of X4 for this place."

Athena scrubbed her face with the hand that wasn't covered in poison, then began to make her way down the bridge. "Does the woman have a death wish?"

"No, she actually doesn't," Cyber said. "She just doesn't let little things like fear and common sense stop her."

More footsteps behind them made her look over her shoulder to see the rest of the squad catching up to them. Then she mentally kicked herself for not checking the tablet which would show the positions of her people. Athen decided to talk with Lily about some sort of Heads Up Display for the visor of her helmet to make it easier to keep track of things.

Which reminded her. As she kept one eye on where she was going, she checked the tablet to see if it had updated with the location of their objective. Fortunately, the location had been updated and wasn't too far off. In fact they should be able to see the building once they advanced past the burning hulk of the sectopod.

"Central, we're now advancing on the primary objective."

" _Roger,"_ he said tersely.

She was grateful that her helmet hid her wince at his tone. The conversation once she was back at the Avenger was going to be a painful one. Well that was later, right now they had a job to do.

The squad carefully moved forward, alert for more hostiles, but it was quiet. Even the alarm had been silenced.

They took cover behind the barrier set up around the perimeter of the building. It looked like nothing was moving around outside. Athena quietly said. "All right, Bird dog, do your thing."

She just nodded to Shieldmaiden when the other woman gestured to herself then to what appeared to be a side door. The ranger seemed to disappear into the night as she silently sped towards her destination. The gremlin had already zoomed off to conduct its sweep of the area.

Bird kept his voice low. _"Okay. Looks like there's another codex."_

A soft chorus of groans broke out.

" _Good news is no more vipers. Just a couple of sectoids and three ADVENT troopers. Can't tell what types."_

" _I think I can try to determine that if I get close enough,"_ Sarin offered.

"How close?"

" _Just outside the building."_

Her tablet vibrated slightly and she looked down to see a message from Shieldmaiden. _He's sneaky enough._

"Go ahead then."

The psionic didn't blend as well as Shieldmaiden, but he did a credible job and he wasn't too noisy.

After a few minutes there was another brief vibration. _An officer, a stun lancer and a regular trooper._

"Bird dog or Sarin, can you give me an idea where they're all located?"

" _I can feel the sectoids coming around Shieldmaiden's way, the ADVENT forces seem to further away."_

"Thanks, Sarin. Shieldmaiden, think you can bring the aliens out this way?"

A double tap on the mic, then the ranger slipped inside. While she did that, Athena arranged the ambush, making sure they were well spread in case Slinger wasn't able to get the codex with one shot.

Shield came on the comms sounding slightly out of breath. _"On my way, boss! They seem pretty pissed. The codex already used its void thing. Hopefully it doesn't have the mojo for another time soon. Also there's four aliens after me, not just three."_

Athena thought that over, but before she could reply the woman came pelting out, skidded around the corner and stood there with shotgun at the ready, panting. The four aliens came boiling out, the sectoids definitely hissing angrily. And there was only one codex, which meant the other was going to pop up at the worst possible moment. She sent out a warning to that effect as she opened fire with the rest of the squad.

One of the sectoids went down fast, but the codex and the second sectoid were still standing and dove for cover. Apparently the codex didn't have enough energy to teleport yet, which was one thing in their favor. The white glowing eyes scanned the battlefield and settled on her. Athena huddled down to avoid the incoming fire, but apparently not enough as the plasma blast hit the very top of her helmet, causing the rest to fall away in pieces. Silently cursing out the situation, Athena drew back to reposition herself when she felt the too familiar nausea of psionic energy.

Then it felt like claws were ripping her head apart.

Crying out in pain she fell to her knees, dropping her gun to clutch her head. Then the whispers began. Awful frightening things that suggested the humans she was with her enemies. That ADVENT was where she belonged since it was her home.

"NO!" She. Would. Not. Give. In.

Athena shoved at the insidious voice with all of her considerable will feeling something tearing open in her mind. She ignored the warm trickle of blood flowing out of her nose as she battled the alien's attempt to mind control her.

The sectoid's head exploded.

Everyone on the battlefield froze, including the codex, giving Sarin a clean shot to finish off the damaged being.

To be honest, Athena felt like her own head was going to explode. But this was so far from the right time and place to wallow, she sucked it up and tried to breathe through the pain as she slowly got back on her feet.

Only to fall down again as a fresh lance of agony pierced her mind. She managed to gasp out. "Codex."

Then the world went away for a time.

When she returned to her senses she was stretched out on the ground with Cyber hovering over her. The ache in her head had faded to a dull roar. "Everyone okay?"

The medic nodded. "Just some bumps and bruises, nothing serious. I've already checked in with Central."

Oh yeah, John was definitely going to have words with her later. "The ADVENT troops?"

"Still inside. Bird dog and Sarin worked up a plan they want to run by you."

She cautiously sat up and looked at the other two men hovering behind Cyber. "Okay. Let's hear it."

Bird dog grinned. "Sarin here freezes the officer with his stasis ability, we eliminate the other two troopers, then I 'jack the officer for the security codes so we can take our time to look around and get intel without worrying about reinforcements."

"Stasis ability?"

The psi-operative squirmed a little. "Yeah, I can freeze someone in place for about a minute. It never seemed all that useful before, so…"

"Right. Let's do it before they work up the courage to come out here." Feeling more than a little creaky she got back on her feet then bent over to retrieve her gun. She also hoped that 'jacking the officer wouldn't bring on another codex, but they would deal with that when the time came.

Shieldmaiden and Bird dog swept into the door first. There were some quiet exclamations before Bird dog said, _"Boss, you gotta see this."_

For the first time in her life, Athena walked into an ADVENT facility and was struck by the ominous, cold sterility of the place before the tubes registered. They looked remarkably like the one she'd been kept in and she couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine at the thought of what might be in them.

There was a flash of light as a scanner inspected her, then the tubes before them opened up revealing what appeared to be ADVENT troopers. Oddly half-formed troopers. Movement caught her eye and she saw that below them was another floor full of similar tubes. The ones closest to her were slowly opening up to reveal their contents.

How many floors were there?

She said in a harsh whisper. "Let's deal with the guards, then we can figure out what's going on here."

Fortunately the two soldiers' plan worked perfectly without another codex appearing. While Bird dog and Cyber were doing their thing with the facilities computers, she approached one of the tubes to inspect the gruesome contents.

Over the comms, she heard Lily say, _"It looks like they're being…grown."_

" _I concur with that assessment,"_ Tygan said in a horrified voice.

John sounded haunted. _"And here I thought we were fighting volunteers or prisoners that were being changed… No wonder there seems to be an endless number of them."_

"Commander." Hearing that title from Shieldmaiden in the field had her immediate attention. The normally tanned face was milk white.

"Shield? What's wrong?"

"You need to see this now, ma'am."

Wondering what else was going wrong with this op, she followed the ranger into a large back room. It looked like some sort of lab setup with another of those tubes. This was one was all in white and on a raised dais.

Sarin was standing before it, also looking pale. "Athena… There's something in there. Living, but it doesn't seem to have a mind."

"You mean brain dead?"

He shook his head. "No, as if there was never anyone there. I've encountered a few brain dead before. There was always a kind of absence. This is more like a blank slate."

Wasn't this just fantastic? "Right, let's see what's in there."

The two soldiers looked at her expectantly. Gritting her teeth, Athena grabbed the handle and yanked down. The doors slid back to reveal a white stasis suit like the red one she'd been in. She grabbed it as the figure slumped forward feeling a kind of uncomfortable reverse déjà vu and lowered it to the floor.

Shieldmaiden looked almost green she'd gone so pale. Athena looked sharply at her. "You going to be okay?"

The other woman nodded. "Yeah, boss. Just, it wasn't that long ago we got you out of one of those things."

"Yeah." She touched her comms. "Bird dog and Cyber. Status?"

" _Just getting done now."_

"Good. Firebrand, time to take us home."

" _Roger, Athena, on my way now. ETA is five minutes."_

"Defcon, how's it going with the charges?"

" _Placing the last one now. This should make a dent in their forces."_

"Let's start moving to the evac zone." She looked down at the stasis suit.

"I got this, ma'am," Sarin said. He grunted a little at the weight as he hauled it up and over his shoulders in a fireman's carry.

It wasn't long until they were assembled for evac and it was a relief to be on Firebrand. She closed her eyes and leaned her aching head against the cool metal wall of the skyranger. There were loud cheers as the facility blew up behind them once they were in a safe range.

Sarin settled in the seat next to her. He spoke quietly. "We're going to have to put you into the psi lab as soon as possible."

"Excuse me?"

"That thing with the sectoid tonight? All I can figure is that your abilities are starting to become active. The lab is the best place to complete the process with minimal harm to you and everyone else around you."

She opened her eyes to stare at him in horror. "You're saying I'm a danger to everyone around me?"

"Right now? Yes. Until we have you properly activated and trained in shielding yourself. It's only for a few days. There are terminals in there for you to continue your work. And people can come by to visit."

Her guts twisted up on themselves, she really didn't like this, but there was no other choice. "Fine, give me tomorrow. Well, technically today, to get things settled, then I'll go in."

He nodded. "Excellent. This should help with your sensitivity too. Really, only good can come from this."

Given the way her life had been the last few months, Athena seriously doubted it, but was wise enough to keep that to herself.


	34. Chapter 34

_**March 10, 2035**_

 _ **02:00 Eastern Standard Time**_

 _ **New Jersey countryside**_

Central Officer Bradford was waiting for them when Firebrand landed.

At least, that was the expression Van had mentally dubbed that particular expression when he was being official. He gave her a long look and too calmly said, "Welcome back, Commander. Congratulations on another successful mission."

"Thank you, Central." She looked down at her poison covered gauntlet and decided not to offer to shake hands. She didn't know if it would still affect anyone and the last thing she wanted to do was put John in the infirmary for god knew how long. She turned to the squad. "Someone get that suit down to Doctor Tygan. Then you're all dismissed. Good work out there, I'm proud of you."

Jane seemed relieved that she didn't offer to shake hands like she normally did when the troops came back from an op. "Thank you, ma'am. It was a pleasure to have you with us."

Van doubted that, but appreciated the sentiment. Two of the people that worked with Tygan, that Van had a very hard time not labeling as henchmen, came up with a gurney. "We'll handle the specimen from here, Commander."

"Thank you."

"Speaking of the doctor," Central said tightly. "He's expecting you now."

"I need to clean up and see to my gear first."

His jaw clenched and his cheek twitched slightly. Yeah, she had pissed him off with this without even meaning to. She added softly. "And this way you can yell at me in private."

There was a quiet hiss of breath. "Let's go, ma'am."

Despite the tense silence, there was still that easy companionship between them. So while he was angry, and likely justifiably so, it hadn't broken anything between them. There were a lot of concerned looks thrown her way. It wasn't just looks, she could have sworn she _felt_ the concern, especially from John.

Once they got into the area that had been designated for her to arm and armor up, she finally asked, "Why is everyone acting so squirrelly around me?"

His lips twitched and that grim worry seemed to fade. "You clearly haven't seen what you look like."

"Since when do I carry a mirror on me? Especially if I'm going out into the field? Granted, that's been all of two times. Three if you want to count the mop up after that attack on the haven."

This time a faint smile deepened the lines around his eyes. Instead of saying anything he swung open the locker door that did have a mirror to let her get a good look at herself. Then she understood. Her skin was milk white, she still had a faint crust of greenish crap around her mouth and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Shit. No wonder Cyber kept hovering over me when Sarin wasn't."

After he pulled on a pair of heavy work gloves and began to help her undo the latches on her armor, John replied. "Speaking of. What the hell was that with the sectoid?"

More than a little dismayed, and too upset to argue about his help, she said, "Apparently my psionics are starting to wake up."

With a great deal of care, he began to help her ease off the armor. "So it means going into the psi lab sooner rather than later."

"Yes," she whispered.

"What is it, angel?"

"The prospect fills me with a nameless, formless dread that I don't understand." Van carefully eased out of the armor so that she wouldn't get her jumpsuit covered in poison residue. Not that meant she didn't need a shower, she did, but didn't want to take any risks for anyone coming into contact with the stuff. "I wish I knew why the prospect scares me so much, but it does."

He stripped off the gloves, then touched her cheek with his fingertips. "You'll get through this. I'm always there if you need me."

She put her hand over his. "Thank you and I'm sorry for upsetting you."

"I _was_ prepared to yell at you for scaring the crap out of me, but couldn't after getting a good look at you." He pulled his hand back and gave her a sly smile. "Though maybe later I can get _you_ to yell."

She grinned back. "I think I like that plan better."

Then John looked at her armor and sobered as he took a good long look at her armor. "Best leave that to Shen's people. Looks like it needs repairs, not just getting it hosed off."

"Yeah, you're right," she was forced to agree after taking a long look at the armor. It looked like the poison had some sort of caustic effect on the metal. "In that case, let me go hose off, then we'll see Tygan."

It didn't take long for her to clean up and change into fresh clothing, which felt really good after the events of the raid.

As they walked along, she reached out to touch his arm. "For what it's worth, I am sorry for scaring you. And the squad, but I'm not sure how to make it up to them."

John stopped and took her hand in his. "Don't need to apologize or make anything up to me. A battlefield is an unpredictable thing. Just scared me when that viper spit its poison cloud at you. But… for what it's worth, you are forgiven."

"Thank you."

"As for the troops, you don't really need to apologize to them either. I'm sure they'll be full of talk about you and that damn poison cloud. Still, if you feel the need, what about that ridiculous idea of a trophy room?"

"Ah. Jane and I already discussed that." She explained her solution as they resumed their slow walk to the lab.

He grunted. "Not a bad idea. Though who knows what Worley might cook up in the way of displays."

"It'll be independent from the rest of the Avenger's systems, so if he comes up with something grotesque I'll have him locked out. And I'll be most irked if he hacks it."

He grinned. "Well, you can't have him scrubbing the toilets with a toothbrush since the bathrooms here are better maintained."

"Nope, I'd set him to doing the truly mind-numbing maintenance functions on the secondary systems. Provided Jane doesn't do something to him first."

"That is mean, but fitting."

Then they were at Tygan's lair and there was no time to say anything.

"Commander," Tygan greeted her coolly. "How kind of you to come down."

Feeling somewhat tired, and more than a little hungry which was making her cranky, she wasn't really in the mood to deal with anyone being snippy. Right at that moment she wanted a bite to eat while she wrote up her after action report, then find some quality time with her bed and her boyfriend, even if it was just to snuggle a bit before sleeping. So she gave him a withering look in return. "I came as soon as I could."

Tygan's attitude softened a bit. "Well, your breathing seems to be doing better than I expected. If you'll have a seat, I'll start with the chest exam first."

John lurked in the background watching in silence while the doctor performed the exam. He shook his head. "As I suspected your lungs are clear. Not even a hint of scarring."

All she could do was shrug after zipping her jumpsuit back up. Van hadn't coughed anything up in an hour and her chest didn't ache. Probably why she was starving, her body likely needed to replenish its reserves after healing from the poison.

The doctor picked up an unfamiliar device. She eyed it warily. "Do I want to know what that is?"

"To measure psionic activity. It's something I worked up with the help of our new operatives."

She rubbed the back of her head. "Sarin already told me that I'm partially active and I've agreed to go into the lab tomorrow to complete the process."

"If you would humor me? This will help to track changes as time goes on."

This was an argument she wasn't going to win, so she gave in as gracefully as she could. "Go ahead then."

The doctor began his scan, an outline of her brain came up on a display to her right. Only instead of the outline filling with the usual swirls and whorls, it looked like a fireworks display. That didn't seem good.

Tygan's skin turned greyish as his jaw dropped slightly. Then he snapped out. "You need to go to the psi lab now. You're a psionic time bomb about to go off at any moment now. I'll be down there shortly."

Stunned, Van got to her feet and staggered toward the door. John fell in beside her, his presence a solid foundation to steady her when it felt like the rest of the world had gone out of balance. He spoke quietly. "It'll be okay, you'll see. Once you're settled in the lab I'll pack a bag of necessities for you."

She flashed him a grateful smile, but was a little worried about what he considered "necessities". Of course they would still be on the Avenger, so if he missed something, she could ask for someone to get it.

Van tried not to think of the situation as a prisoner being escorted to Death Row.

After all, they already had a new psionic in training. An overly enthusiastic young woman by the name of Zoria Varzar, and she was doing quite well. Even if she seemed an awfully young eighteen.

Just before they arrived at the lab, she paused for a moment to ask, "A kiss for good luck?"

John smiled a little and didn't say anything, instead cupping her face between his hands to give her a long, soft kiss. She placed her hands over his as she kissed him back, almost desperately.

When he stepped back, he regarded her thoughtfully. "Better?"

"A little. Thank you."

"Anytime," he replied as he put his arm around her shoulders as she leaned against him as they finished their walk to the lab.

Steele was waiting for them in the hallway outside. The psi operative didn't seem fazed about the way they were walking together, instead those pale eyes were studying Van with some measure of worry.

"Am I really that bad?"

"Let's just say that it is a good thing that the lab is already up and running."

Van took a deep breath and let it out, then reluctantly separated from John. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze as he slid his hand away. She was grateful that he'd been willing to forget propriety for this. "Right. Let's get this party started."

They escorted her into the lab, where Zoria was sitting on her bunk inside one of the enclosures. The young woman gave her a bright smile. "Hey Commander."

"Ms. Varzar, I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Nope, I'm usually up at this time anyway. The ship is usually quieter so there aren't as many minds ticking away."

That made sense. Van nodded her understanding. "Anyway, since we'll be in here together for a time, go ahead and call me Athena like the rest of the troops do in training."

The young psionic in training gave her an even bigger smile. "In that case, call me Zori."

Van looked over the cell she was going to be in for the next few days. It was pretty basic, containing just a narrow bed with a sink and toilet some distance from the foot of the bed and a small computer terminal near the head. At least it had a curtain that could be pulled into place for privacy.

Refusing to let her fear rule her, she squared her shoulders and walked into the cell. The door sealed itself behind her. Van met John's worried eyes and gave him a warm smile in order to encourage them both. He smiled back in return, but she could still see the strain.

She turned to Steele and nodded.

The other woman sat down at the workstation that monitored the two cells. "Initiating Activation Protocol."

Overhead a bright violet light flared and the room flooded with psionic energy, causing the Avenger to fall away from Van's senses.

The world turned into one of pain that awoke long suppressed nightmares.


	35. Chapter 35

_**Unknown date**_

 _ **Unknown time**_

 _ **Alien Base**_

She could only scream in her mind since the soft mouth guard they put into place kept her from chewing her tongue off. The pain had been worth trying to escape by suicide. Unfortunately, they'd been alerted before she could finish the job.

Vanessa was going to do everything she could to avoid letting the aliens have control over her.

The aliens had injected something into her, she could feel it slithering through her veins as she lay strapped down to a cold, hard surface. Though from what she could see from the little she could move her head to look around, she still _looked_ human.

Strangely, she thought she heard Bradford in the distance. But wasn't he dead? How could she hear him? And who was it that he was yelling at?

 _("Dammit, Tygan. Get her_ out of there! _It sounds like this is killing her."_

" _I can't. All that's keeping her from destroying the Avenger is the additional emergency shielding on the lab. It's not killing her. She's… she's caught up in some sort of memory."_

 _There was the impression of John putting his hand on a transparent barrier. "Van, if you can hear me, angel, hold on. This won't be forever. Just stay strong.")_

Even if that was just a construct of her despairing brain, his words brought her comfort. John was still her rock, even if he still had to babysit her in her mind. She clung to that thought as she mentally exhausted herself into unconsciousness.

When Vanessa came back to awareness, she was still strapped to the table. For some reason her dreaming brain had tormented her with the thought of being with XCOM, albeit in a different base and largely unfamiliar faces. Though they'd been familiar in her dream. More than familiar

For some reason they kept telling her to stay strong, that her ordeal would soon be over.

Tears trickled down the corners of her eyes despite her determination not to show any kind of weakness.

The tears dried up quickly when the thin man approached from her right. It examined something above her head, presumably readouts of some sort and gave a cold, cruel smile. There was a flash of red, then one of the members of the ruling class of the aliens drifted into view. Vanessa had mentally dubbed them ethereal since they seemed so physically delicate.

The two aliens seemed to discuss something, then the ethereal drifted off. The thin man removed a glowing green ampule from the side of her neck with a wet sucking sensation and sound, then replaced it with another.

She wondered what they wanted with her, they clearly knew who she was since the muton who had grabbed her made sure not to do any damage when its allies were killing everyone else. Yet they hadn't interrogated her. Aside from the weird sensation of whatever it was flowing through her, they hadn't performed any of their horrific experiments on her.

Not that she wanted to have anything horrible happen to her, but she feared they had something worse in mind than their "typical" experiments.

Then whatever was in the ampule caught up with her, causing darkness to well up and over her mind.

 _(A drone she identified as a gremlin hung over her, administering something to her. All around her was wreckage of what appeared to be a cell of some sort, but it didn't have the feel of a jail. On the other side of a barrier was a man with a hound-like face. He gave her a warm smile. "Just checking up on you, Commander and giving you something to keep hydrated. Please don't destroy this gremlin too, otherwise the Chief will have both our hides."_

 _She nodded bemusedly and let the little drone do its thing, wondering at the improbable dream.)_

Vanessa woke with a start as the table she was strapped to moved into an upright position. Three ethereals approached, two not so subtly supporting the third that gave off a sense of great age. They were accompanied by four mutons in some sort of ornate armor and wielding some sort of polearm. The heads of the weapons had the distinctive green glow of a plasma weapon. The thin man that had been "attending" her was accompanying the group.

The three ethereals floated to her despite the grunted protests of their muton guards, but the leaders seemed to ignore them, seemingly feeling secure in the fact she couldn't anything to them.

Unfortunately, they were correct with the way she was bound.

A voice laden with age spoke in her mind. _So this is the warleader that had given us such trouble._

The thin man replied in English, presumably for her benefit. "Yes, Eldest."

An unpleasant sensation of being poked and prodded started in her brain. With a mental snarl she envisioned lashing out at the source. The mental voice seemed to hold some sort of approval. _There is fire in it. As well as strong psionic potential. This is good. It is healthy?_

"Yes, Eldest. The modifications have been implanted and the body will be everything you could hope for."

Ice slid its way down her spine. She did not like how this conversation was going.

 _Excellent. So all is prepared to make it my host?_

The thin man nodded and Vanessa felt her bowels turn to water. Host. The thing planned taking over her? Oh no. No. That was **not** happening. She was most certainly was not going to allow this monster to make her a sock puppet.

The Eldest shook of its escort and moved forward on its own. It placed its upper set of hands on her temples while the lower set gripped her shoulders for support. The restraints were too strong to let her struggle.

Then the feather light intrusion began and she visualized a bank vault locking into place around her mind with a solid thump. It ripped the doors open as if it were paper and slowly advanced on her.

The mental forcefield she threw up shattered at its approach.

It wasn't slowed much by thick castle walls.

Vanessa fled deeper into her mind, heart hammering in her chest from fear and fury, trying to throw up every possible variation of wall and shield she could think of, but the invader continued to advance. It whispered. _Why do you resist? You know that in the end I will win._

"I will not let you, or anyone else, take away everything I am." She growled in response. "To resist is human. You will find that not all of humanity will just lay down and let you walk all over us."

 _We have the power. Your people put up a valiant defense, proving yourselves to us, but you lack the means to defeat us._

Then she realized what she was doing wrong. This was _her_ mind they were in. And she was never one to be purely defensive. This was definitely a situation that called for a good offense to act as her defense.

With a mental twist, they were in a warehouse district, not anything specific her people had fought in, but an amalgamation of multiple of them. She clad herself in power armor that was a mix of so many different pieces of fiction that was its own unique whole and armed herself with an assault rifle that was based off the aliens own plasma weapons.

Maybe some of this didn't exist in the real world. She certainly couldn't use them there, but this was a mental construct of her making so she could use whatever she wanted. Vanessa was aware she could have used something else, but the truth was, this environment she was used to, the same with how she armed and armored herself.

She also didn't want to risk giving the thing a chance to grab her before she was ready.

 _This is foolishness._

Oh yes, it was definitely getting angry. A corner of her mouth curled up in a grim half smile, then it quickly faded. Stupid to get overconfident, that led to mistakes that were easily preventable.

She hastily ducked around a corner and fired at the alien then scoot back into cover behind a metal boxcar as her enemy blasted the stack she had been behind.

 _Why do you prolong the inevitable?_

Vanessa declined to answer, hoping that by remaining silent she wouldn't let it in enough to figure out her plan. She left the cover of the boxcar just in time to avoid another blast from the Eldest, though shrapnel scored light wounds along her face.

The answering volley she sent managed to damage one of its lower arms and kept moving on. That was a lesson she'd learned early on, even in the simulations she ran for Foresight. Keep moving, don't let the enemy pin you down.

There was an eerie hiss and the ethereal thrust out three of its four arms, the one she damaged hung limply at its side. It sent various boxes, crates and shipping containers flying to deprive her of cover, but she wasn't afraid to fall back when she had to in order to reposition herself. Every chance she had, she took a shot at the creature. A lot missed, but enough hit.

How long the chase lasted she couldn't say, but eventually the alien finally lost its temper, blasting away all of the obstacles out of the way, then seizing her by a telekinetic force. She put up just enough of a struggle to convince the thing it had won, including letting the mental armor and gun fade away.

After it had her in its grip, it growled. _Now it is time to finish th-_ The voice cut off and turned into a shriek. _What are you doing?_

Her lips pulled back into a feral grin. "We humans have a saying. Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it."

Throughout the firefight she'd been trying to mentally prepare herself for this moment, but she needed it pissed off and distracted for it to have a chance at working. Instead of resisting it trying to take over, she'd allowed it to come in, but not all of it. Only its energy. She'd turned herself into an energy sink, one it couldn't break free from.

Oh it tried. It struggled greatly, but the entire time she continued to drain it of its essence, being careful not to let any of its mind enter hers. That too it tried to do, but failed. She hunkered down behind the mental barricades she'd finally figured out how to erect and concentrated on draining its energy as it drummed fruitlessly against said barriers.

If it had fled, she would have let it go, but it didn't. Seemingly caught up in its own belief that it couldn't escape.

That's when she realized they didn't have much of an imagination and wondered how to use that against them.

Finally it was dead and gone, leaving behind its helmet and robes. She crushed the helmet with her foot, then incinerated the mess, making sure everything was completely gone, not even ashes left. Vanessa wasn't going to risk any kind of contamination of her mind.

Then it was time to face reality.

She was looking forward to the rude surprise that was in store for her captors.

When she opened her eyes, one of the ethereals asked, _Eldest?_

Vanessa tried to give them a similar feral smile that she had the now deceased Eldest, but it was ruined by the mouthguard. She concentrated very hard on projecting her defiant _NO_ at them.

The two aliens backed away in fear and confusion, causing the mutons to grunt and stomp anxiously, but the thin man's gesture kept them in place, but they glared at her balefully. The two ethereals began to flutter away from her. One of them said, _This, this is not possible._

 _Fuck you._ She concentrated very carefully on trying to project her words, not sure if they would hear her or not, but she was going to do her damnedest. _Fuck every single one of you. I will die before I submit to being your puppet._

The other alien spoke. _We still have a use for it._

 _Know this. If you don't kill me now, I will find a way to destroy you all and tear this place down around your heads!_

It disregarded her words. _Prepare her for insertion into the network. We will find a way to reclaim the Eldest._

Their arrogance was breathtaking. They didn't even take into consideration that she had actually killed the thing.

After the aliens had reverentially gathered the remains of their dead leader they left, except for the thin man who had the table return to its horizontal position. A tray full of organic tools rose up from the floor. The alien picked up something that looked like some sort of underwater monstrosity. "By the time I'm done, you'll wish that you'd allowed the Eldest in."

It was wrong, so very wrong. Through the pain of the procedures there were two thoughts she clung to.

The first being that despite the pain and fear of what was being done to her, Vanessa was still herself.

And secondly, she was still alive.

Finally the pain ended as she was inserted into some sort of padded suit.

Before unconsciousness set in her final thought was that one day she would have her revenge.


	36. Chapter 36

_**March 16, 2035**_

 _ **15:31 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

Van woke with a start, not expecting to find herself on a cold metal floor surrounded by debris and the air reeking from her unwashed body combined with her feces and urine.

It took some time for her to remember that she was on the Avenger, not the alien base, but now she understood all of her fears. They didn't seem so irrational now. Or maybe they were and what she "remembered" was just the result of those fears.

There was movement to her left and she slowly turned her head, suddenly aware of just how much she _hurt_. The movement had come from Steele who had wearily gotten to her feet, her skin looked sallow and there were dark bags under her eyes. "Welcome back, Athena."

"Thank you. I think." After a great deal of deliberation, Van managed to get herself into a sitting position and couldn't hide her distress at the damage done to the psi lab. Not only were the contents of the cell she was in destroyed, it looked like a similar storm had occurred in the other lab. "Zoria? Is she all right? Is that why she's in the infirmary with Sarin?"

She'd reached out with mind without being conscious of doing so. Van was just…aware of all the people on the Avenger, not that she was trying to read their thoughts. The presence she felt the most was John's and he was already making his way down to the lab.

The blonde woman considered her. "Well, that answers one question. And yes, both Zoria and Jay will be all right, they just need a few more days to recover."

"So what exactly happened? The last thing I clearly remember happening was you initiating the activation sequence." There had been brief flashes of other things, but she wasn't sure if those were real, or her mind making things up while she was what? Reliving a memory? Had it even been real? Or was it some nightmare her overloaded brain came up with?

Some part of her was firmly convinced that it had happened.

Steele scrubbed her face. "When we started the activation sequence, it triggered some sort of traumatic memory. Jay and I couldn't get clear details because when we touched your mind you thought we were enemies. That's when the lab got blown up. The chief and her people managed to get some emergency shielding in place so you wouldn't affect the rest of the ship."

She paused for a moment to let Van think that over. Van frowned as a new worry stood out. "If I can sense everyone on the Avenger, I didn't…do anything to them, did I?"

"You're fine on that score. You didn't project anything telepathically, just telekinetically. That only became a problem when Geoff used his gremlin to give you subcutaneous injections so that you wouldn't dehydrate or starve to death."

Van grimaced. "I think I remember him asking me not to destroy one."

"It was one of your rare semi-lucid moments." She hesitated. "Central spent a lot of time down here since his presence seemed to soothe you the most."

"Speaking of whom, he'll be here shortly." She looked around at the destruction around her. "I don't suppose the shower is working?"

"I'm afraid not, we had to shut off the plumbing. For obvious reasons we couldn't send someone in to see to you, and the way you reacted to the gremlins…"

"Right. Since I'm not really picking up any distress, everyone is doing all right?"

The blonde woman nodded. "Yes. We've been laying low since the destruction of the Forge Facility. That really stirred up a hornet's nest. Otherwise everyone is fine, just worried about you."

She couldn't suppress her sigh. "So much for keeping it low key."

"These things can't be helped. You're not the first one I've seen overload during activation, but you are the first to come out of it sanely." Steele gave her a long look. "I suspect in this case it's the relationship between you and Central. He gave you a touchstone to stay connected with reality."

Well, she had called John her bedrock and she already knew the crew knew about the two of them. "So what do I have to do to get out of here?"

"Just a few tests, even though I'm fairly certain you've amply demonstrated what you can do." They both shared a wry smile at that. "We'll start with the basic display of power."

Having seen both Steele and Sarin do just that, not to mention the aliens, Van concentrated and called up a small ball of psionic power without the ridiculous hand gestures. They were using their brains for god's sake, not wizards from some fantasy setting. She didn't expect to get a ball of bright cerulean light. Every psionic she'd seen in action, human or alien, had always been some shade of violet.

Steele pursed her lips as she considered the ball. "I'm not sure which is worse. That you don't gesture or that you're already messing about with what you can do."

"I promise, this is how it manifested without any input on my part. As for the gestures," her lip curled slightly without meaning to, "we're not _wizards._ "

That got her a smile. "And here we were taught that way to help us to be able to always be able to channel our energies consistently. Once the lab is restored, we can try to figure out how to test this out."

"Or we could take one of the small unused chambers, have it shielded and give us a practice ground that way. I'm sorry I didn't think of that before."

That a wave of dismissal. "You've only had us for a week and a half, and half that time you were otherwise occupied. Anyway, since we already have a good idea of what your telekinesis can do, let's test the telepathy."

"What did you have in mind?"

"We'll start with the Avenger, then work our way out. Though I'm not sure how much you'll pick-up since we're pretty far out in what you Americans call Northern Bumblefuck."

She couldn't help smiling at hearing that term come out of the British woman, then turned serious about the matter on hand since John was waiting patiently outside the door for the all clear to enter. She rubbed her forehead. "So how do we do this? We link up somehow and you, well, go for a mental ride along or something?"

"Yes, that is pretty much the idea."

"All right, let's get this over and done with so I can get out of here."

Steele sat back down in the chair then extended a mental "hand" that Van found that she was able to easily "clasp" then let her mind surge up and out of her body. First she did a quick sweep of the Avenger, making sure to keep to the public areas, then she "flew" outside.

The view held her captivated for a time.

They'd settled down in a mountainous area still covered in snow, overlooking a slow moving river that had a fine glazing of ice. A gentle poke from Akadia, and they were on a first name basis for the moment due to the nature of the link they shared, broke her from the contemplating of icy glory. Taking her cue from a nearby hawk, not that she wanted to try to read that razor wire mind, she began to make slow lazy circles out from the Avenger.

While she didn't sense any human or alien minds, Van enjoyed the virtual sensation of flying and seeing the gorgeous, if stark, scenery.

 _Oh_ , Akadia said in the back of her awareness, _you truly are seeing this._

 _Yes, why?_

 _Neither Jay nor I can see anything unless we're viewing it from another's mind. I think that perhaps Doctor Tygan was wrong. You aren't prescient, you're clairvoyant._

 _I'll admit, I prefer that to seeing the future._ Even if the whole situation seemed surreal. Granted life had started off feeling that way when the invasion started, but now was just weird.

 _Can't say that I blame you._

Since it seemed like there was nothing around the area, she decided to head south. Feeling the murmur of mental voices, she adjusted the direction to the southwest. There was a small town that seemed to have seen better days.

 _That looks like Pond Inlet, which is easily forty kilometers from here._ Akadia commented in an awed voice. _I think that's enough for one day._

A sudden wave of exhaustion made Van silently agree and pull back to her body. When she opened her physical eyes the first sight that greeted her was John standing at the entrance to the cell. He looked as haggard as she felt and wondered if he'd gotten any rest during the last few days.

Steele got out of the chair with a soft groan. "She's all yours, Central. I'm going to check on Jay and Zoria then crash for a day or so."

"Thank you," he said without taking his eyes off Van.

The woman nodded easily and walked away. Van looked up at John and tried to decide the easiest way of getting up. Forcing her abused body to move or using her abused mind to move her body.

John strode through the door to her and held out a hand to her. While she appreciated the sentiment, she was truly revolting. "John, I'm pretty sure you don't want to touch me right now. I know I don't want to touch me right now."

He frowned at her. "Why not?"

She knew he had a working nose so the smell should have told him everything. "I haven't had a shower in five days and…" Her cheeks flamed with shame, she was not about to say out loud that she'd shit and pissed on herself. That was also when she became aware of the sorry state of her jumpsuit which was partially shredded and had dried patches of blood. Apparently she hadn't spared herself in her frenzy. "Other things. I'm disgusting beyond any words I have to describe."

The frown cleared. "Oh. Angel, I am a soldier."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I've dealt with worse." Then his voice shifted to an annoyed growl. "Now let me help you up, or I'll pick you up."

Van cautiously put her hand into his and somehow got to her feet, then would have fallen back down if John didn't grab her. Her legs felt like they were made of half-set gelatin.

"Looks like you're not in any shape to walk on your own." He gave her a stern look. "Don't argue."

Before she could figure out what he was talking about, he scooped her up in his arms.

Stubborn pride almost caused her to argue with him, then realized that was stupid. She really was in no shape to walk and if she did try, he'd end up carrying her anyway, which would probably annoy him to no end. Instead she let her head settle on his shoulder and tried not to think about how rank her hair must have smelled.

Without thinking about it, Van did the mental equivalent of her head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his presence. He stopped abruptly just before leaving the door, which caused her to jerk her head up and withdraw back into her own mind. "I'm sorry, John, I didn't mean to invade your head like that."

"So it was you, good." John resumed walking, then shifted his grip to get her to settle back into place. "It wasn't unpleasant." He gave her a surprisingly sweet smile. "Liked it actually. So until I tell you otherwise, you have my permission to do whatever that was."

"Just the mental equivalent of what I'm doing now." Carefully, she extended the mental feelers again, then snuggled against his mind when she felt his welcome. Contentment settled over them both and she could see some of the worry lines easing from around his eyes and mouth.

She started to drowse a bit until it sank in that the corridors were suspiciously empty. There were heavy concentrations of people in Mission Control, Engineering and the crew quarters as well as a number outside. "Why is the area so empty? And everyone is either bunched up in certain parts of the Avenger or just outside?"

"Respect. They don't know the details, Jane made sure to keep Hause quiet about your condition, but they knew you were in bad shape."

"And that it was likely someone was going to end up carrying me around like a sack of potatoes?" Though she bet it was the smell.

"Wouldn't put it quite like that."

"True, that was probably more like when you got me away from ADVENT."

She felt his smile more than saw it, but he didn't say anything. They remained quiet until they got to her quarters. When John carefully put her back on her feet, and despite feeling utterly disgusted with herself, Van leaned in to kiss him. When she leaned back shakily, she smiled. "Thank you. Though that seems inadequate for everything you've done for me."

He smiled. "As always, angel, you can thank me like that any time. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up, you'll feel better then." John gave her a gentle nudge in the direction of the bathroom while keeping a hand at her back to keep her steady.

Van frowned a little at his clear intention of assisting her there too. "John… you don't have to do this."

That got her a sharp look, but he didn't stop moving. "Nope. Want to though."

The conviction in his mind surprised and confused her. Van had always only had herself to rely on, even as a child, and that was something she'd grown to be proud of. Add in previous relationships didn't involve this level of care, it made things awkward for her.

As they entered the bathroom he asked, "What's really bothering you?"

"I never thought of myself as the high maintenance type."

He didn't say anything as he deposited her at the sink where she managed to find the wherewithal to brush her teeth and he started to run the shower for her. "Don't have to worry about running the shower as long as you like since we're getting water directly from the river."

She nodded a little and he put his hand on her shoulder to make her look at him, as well as a strong invitation from his mind. When she curled around his mind, she felt like she was basking in the warmth of a friendly fire, then he caressed her face. "Van, there's nothing wrong with one partner leaning against another when they're having a bad time of it. My god, you've been back for less than two months and look at everything you've been through."

John gave her a stern look. "And before you say anything, yes the past twenty years were bad, but it didn't get thrown on me all at once."

She gave him a weak smile and said something she'd never said to anyone before, not even her birth family. "I love you."

The way his face lit up made her think she'd given him the world. Maybe she had given the feelings that poured out of him. "Love you too, Vanessa McKenzie." He kissed her lightly, but meaningfully. "Now let's get you out of those rags and into the shower."

The next half hour was one of the more humiliating ones for Van since John ended up helping her get undressed, then into the shower then finally in cleaning up. Though she was given a chance to stand under the pounding hot water on her own and that felt _amazing_.

Later, over egg salad sandwiches and potato salad, she tried to get caught up on what she missed. She didn't need her newfound telepathy to tell her that he was irritated by it. He pointed his fork at her. "I'll give you a quick summary, then no more work for the day for you."

She blinked at that and had to remind herself, again, that the invasion was over. While they needed to stop the Avatar Project, it wasn't like the war where they had constant barrages to deal with. As she kept being reminded, they had limited resources, which meant picking and choosing their battles carefully.

That included her personal ones. Maybe John was being overprotective, but she understood rightly, the past five days had scared him shitless. "I promise, no more work after this, but I was worried after Steele mentioned something about the reaction to us blowing up that facility."

He nodded and the tension flowed out of him. "Understandable. It's why we're out here. All of their facilities are on even higher alert than normal. There was some pursuit of the Avenger, but we've evaded them."

Van slowly put her half eaten sandwich down, her stomach suddenly felt like it was full of molten lead and she suddenly felt faint. She swallowed back the fear as John got up and came around the table. "I'll be all right, it's just… Well, I'll go over it once you've given me your news."

There was silence for a moment as he studied her and she reached out to take his hand. "Seriously, John. I will be all right. Please, sit down."

He squeezed her hand in return before returning to his seat at her request. "It's been largely quiet, though while we were performing the evasion maneuvers, Tygan detected a distress signal." John took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It was one of our original signals from the time of the evasion. Think… think it might be from Big Sky. It's a close fit to the transponder on his skyranger."

She knew that they didn't know what happened to Big Sky after the hit on HQ. Adam and Duane had said the squad had come to the decision with the pilot to scatter in the middle of nowhere. None had heard from him since.

"Shen has some drones carefully investigating the location. Maybe in a day or so it'll be quiet enough for us to investigate."

"Yes, we have to know. Maybe it isn't within our overall mission, but if this is one of our people, we have to know."

The smile he gave her was small but still warm. "Knew you'd understand." He ate a little bit. "So what did you want to tell me?"

"Before I go into it, I want to say I know I am me, between everything that's happened and Tygan's tests."

Dark brown eyes peered at her with worry under beetled brows, but he just gestured for her to continue on. After taking a deep breath of her own and letting it out, she told him about the hell she had relived because that little voice that kept insisting that it was real was the same one she'd learned to listen to about trouble.

When she finished, John leaned back in his seat and gave a low whistle. "No wonder you had those worries. Not that you really needed more reasons than the ones you had before." He rubbed his chin for a moment. "Think that's how you had an idea of what this Avatar Project is?"

"Yes, but I have a strong feeling they're not just taking over random bodies." What happened to her made her skin crawl. It crawled even worse at the thought of it happening to other people. Any alternatives she could think of weren't much better.

"Probably right and there might be an answer in the stasis suit. Tygan's been acting… What's that term you use? Squirrelly?"

Wasn't that just great? Duty demanded she go see what had Tygan so wound up, but the truth was she was just tapped out. Eating lunch or dinner or whatever it was, had used the last of her reserves. There was also the fact she'd promised no more work and with the way John was eyeballing her meant that he was going to hold her to it.

"Do you think it can wait until tomorrow or the next day? I'm about ready to crash." She tried to stifle a yawn. "And I would also really love it if you'd join me if I'm not taking you away from anything."

"My pleasure. Was planning on getting some sleep soon myself. Go to bed and I'll clean up."

She frowned. "I am capable of cleaning up my own room."

"Right now you need sleep more and nothing wrong with accepting a little help."

"Says the man who got upset when I tried to get him to take it easy when his leg was bothering him," she grumbled as she got up and started picking up dishes. She was quite proud that her hands didn't shake while she did so.

There was a flash of a smile. "If I'm in that kind of situation again, promise to let you fuss over me without complaining."

"Right." The doubt in her voice drew another smile as he gave in gracefully. Not that there was all that much to clean up.

Once the dishes were stacked in their carrier and the few crumbs wiped away, he firmly took the carrier then kissed her on the forehead. "Get into bed, I'll be back shortly."

This time she didn't argue and by the time he returned she was already sinking into her first real sleep in five days.


	37. Chapter 37

_**March 18, 2035**_

 _ **13:30 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

Looking up at the broken remains of Big Sky's pride and joy brought an almost physical level of pain to Bradford. It seemed almost like yesterday that he and the pilot had their "conversation" about the shark's grin painted on the front of the skyranger. Not to mention the "No aliens allowed" symbol painted near the XCOM logo.

It had been the first minor matter he'd brought up to his new Commander. She approved the unorthodox paint job as long as it didn't disrupt discipline. Fortunately for Big Sky, it didn't so the grin remained on the plane. Even Bradford had come to appreciate the defiance it represented, especially since the pilot was generally professional.

A warm hand lightly touched his arm that was accompanied by an even softer touch on his mind. Both were equally comforting. He supposed that the mental intimacy should bother him, but the truth was she wasn't invasive and her presence was strong regardless of her telepathy. Right at that moment he needed the support.

Just because it was the nature of war didn't mean he couldn't feel certain losses.

Big Sky and he hadn't been friends exactly, but they'd been through a lot of shit together. First in Afghanistan, then in Iraq. When Bradford was put in charge of updating the XCOM project, the pilot had been at the top of the list for being the pilot for one of the skyrangers. Of course that lead to him being the main pilot for their alpha fireteam since the man was the best of an excellent lot.

So he leaned against Van first emotionally then physically when she slid her hand from his arm to his back as the memories flooded through him. Around them stood some of the troops keeping watch on the area, but a carefully blind eye to the pair. Shen had gone into the wreckage with Cyber and Bird dog to see if there was any useful information that could be obtained.

Bradford glanced at Van to see how she was doing since she'd spent most of the previous day and that morning sleeping with the occasional food and bathroom break. At least she looked only a little pale and not like the half-dead thing she'd looked like when he got her out of the psi lab. He supposed she was fine since she was dressed only in her jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled down against the crisp, cold air of the mountains with no signs of feeling the cold.

She looked back at him, gave him a wan smile and murmured. "It's all right, John, lean on me as long as you need to."

There was a faint twinge of guilt for doing so, but the grief outweighed the guilt. Besides, her presence was a warm strength that he sorely needed at that moment.

"Damn," Robinson said from behind them. "Big Sky must've been in a bad way if he landed his baby like that."

That was an understatement. The plane had clearly crash landed and Bradford wondered if anyone walked away from it.

"That or the pilot wasn't Big Sky," commented a laconic female voice. Bradford turned around in surprise to see that Firebrand had come out of the Avenger. The pilot usually stayed inside when they were on a mission of some sort. She stood next to a silent Adam Kelly as she surveyed the wreck.

"What makes you say that?" Van asked curiously.

Firebrand pulled off her aviators to look at them, then pointed out the downed vehicle's trajectory. "Even if he was just half the pilot you said he was, Big Sky should've been able to land the bird without crashing it. The majority of the damage was done on impact, not before."

He wasn't sure how she could tell that, but she did know what she was doing as a pilot, so maybe she could make that kind of estimate.

A clatter from the wreckage announced the exit of Shen's crew from the fallen skyranger. The engineer came straight to Van and him, wiping dust and god knew what else from her hands and face with a rag. The two specialists that had gone in with her remained just outside the wreck directing the salvage crew that was cleared to go in.

Shen looked tired and sad. "No sign of the pilot. Since there was no blood or anything left behind, I'm going to guess they got out okay. There were bodies in the hold. Their gear had XCOM badges."

Van stirred a little. "We can't do anything too elaborate, but as long as there's no threat we can at least put them rest properly and make a note of the location for later honors."

There were quiet thanks given. She sighed. "Was there a black box or something that you can use to try to figure out where it came from?"

"Yeah, it looks like it's in sorry shape, so I'm not sure how much I'll get off of it, but in the meantime I'll have the ship's computer try to project its trajectory."

"Thank you, Shen." Though that seemed pretty weak.

"No problem, Central. If you don't mind, I'm gonna head in and get started on it."

"Go on, I'm sure the team has everything well in hand."

When Shen had left, Van suggested. "Maybe we should head in also? There's nothing we can do to help here."

"Yeah, you're right."

After a quick check with the perimeter guard, they slowly made their way back to the Avenger. Shortly before they got near the ramp, Bradford pulled Van to the side out of sight, then wrapped her up tight and buried his face in her shoulder. She didn't say anything, just held him in return giving what wordless comfort that she could.

When he finally let her go, still without saying anything, she reached out to cup his face with her warm hands and brush away the tears with her thumbs. She fixed him a stern look. "Take the rest of the day off, John. Go grieve with Duane and Adam since it would be best for you to do so with fellow soldiers. I know you weren't as close to Big Sky as those two, but you knew each other for quite some time. Anyway, we're still laying low, so it's not like we have anything major planned."

He wanted to protest, after all things didn't stop running for him to take a moment to grieve over someone he didn't know was actually dead or not.

Vanessa glared at him. "Fine. I'm _ordering_ you to take the rest of the day off as your Commander. I'm more than capable of running Mission Control on my own for a few hours."

Since she so rarely invoked her authority like that, Bradford was a little taken back. As she continued to stare at him with her arms crossed over her chest he thought over what she was saying. "You… may have a point. I'll go check on them at any rate."

The glare softened into exasperation. "I love you, John Bradford, but I will toss you out of Mission Control if you come back and there's nothing urgent going on."

He chuckled despite the heaviness on his heart. "Message received loud and clear, Commander." Bradford leaned in to lightly kiss her. "Love you too, Van. I'll see you later, but _not_ in Mission Control."

The smile he got in return helped ease that emotional ache as he went in search of the two soldiers, since unlike Van, he didn't have them tagged to keep track of them. As it turned out he didn't have to actually search for them, they were waiting for him at the bottom of the entrance ramp. Both men looked old, older than their years, and tired. Kelly looked subdued in a way he didn't remember seeing the normally energetic man ever being.

Bradford supposed there was only so much loss a person could take before it became too much.

Locating that broken heap of a skyranger had proven to be a greater blow than he'd anticipated. At least for the old timers from the original XCOM.

Robinson quietly said, "We thought you might like to join us for a lot of really bad coffee and just talk."

Like Bradford, the other two men had sworn off booze, at least for the time being. Even if it hadn't been forbidden to them. Though in a way it was to honor the memory of the lost pilot. The man loved coffee almost as much as he loved his bird.

"Be glad to."

He couldn't call the next few hours as good exactly, but they were what he needed as they reminisced about the past. At first they talked about Big Sky, then the conversation shifted to others that had fallen over the years. It seemed like it was what the other two needed as well.

When Bradford left, he didn't feel like a weight had been lifted, but it felt like it had shifted so that it was bearable. Until he met with Van in the mess for dinner. Her somewhat grave expression had him bracing for the worst. "What is it, Van?"

"Lily completed reviewing the black box data." She poked at her food the way she did when she had something uncomfortable to say that wasn't an emergency.

So he didn't give her any more time to stew over it. "Go ahead and spit it out. I can take it."

"Some of the data was corrupted, but it did confirm that the plane came from someplace Vahlen was holed up at."

That was an unexpected mixed blessing. On one hand if they could have Vahlen working in tandem with Tygan, they could probably make even faster advances on understanding the aliens' tech. However, if Vahlen had betrayed them…

"Anyway, Lily thinks she can figure out where the skyranger came from based on what little the box had available. Looks like it might only be a few hours away from here using the Avenger."

They ate in silence for a few minutes before he said. "Hope you know I have to do this. Besides Shen and you, Vahlen was one of our greatest assets and I have to get her out of whatever trouble she's in. I got you away from ADVENT after all."

Van nodded and there was the briefest caress against his mind. "Of course. You also need to know what exactly happened."

Gratitude welled up inside him for her understanding. "Yeah."

She nodded again. "Besides, if I were the one leading the mission, I'd be more likely to try to kill her than rescue her."

All he could do was shake his head and smile a little, not at all surprised at her sentiment.


	38. Chapter 38

_**March 19, 2035**_

 _ **07:55 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

"So let me get this straight, both Tygan and Lily want to see us this morning?" Van asked, not quite believing what John just told her, even though there were messages left for her that told her the same. "I didn't think Lily even knew that this hour existed."

He grinned a little at her quip, which lifted her spirits. She'd been worried about him since the day before after the terrible grief she'd picked up from him. He'd seen so much loss in the past two decades. While she liked to think they were making some sort of progress against the aliens now, Van knew there was only so much that a person could take before breaking.

Thankfully it seemed like John hadn't reached that point yet. Hopefully she could continue to support him so that he wouldn't reach that point.

"Pretty sure she knows it exists if only from the late nights she's pulled."

She smiled slightly in response. "Very true."

"Anyway, we should see Tygan first to give her time to get in gear."

"Good idea." It also meant getting over the latest horrors sooner and hopefully whatever Lily had in mind would make up for it.

They were quiet during the remainder of the walk to the lab until she felt Tygan's worry and fear. Reinforcing her mental barriers, Vanessa grimly said, "Better brace yourself."

John only sighed then nodded his understanding, visibly bracing himself before entering the room ahead of her as if to act as a buffer. She heard Tygan say with a wearily forced cordiality. "Central. Where's the –"

He cut himself off as she stepped around John. "Ah. Commander, there you are. Good."

Vanessa studied the head of her R&D division and didn't like what she saw. In the past week or so the man had become haggard and worn by whatever it was he'd discovered during his latest research. "All right, what's the bad news?"

That was all she could ask when she saw the white stasis suit laid out on the autopsy table. Though from what she could see on some of the readouts on the monitors behind the table whatever was in there was still alive and being sustained by the suit. Besides Tygan going all formal on them of course.

"I would say the answer is more complex than that, but I won't deny that some of it is a disturbing." The doctor gestured for them to a different monitor where there was an image of a thin four armed humanoid body was displayed. "I'm nearly done with deciphering the data we've gotten from the Codex. It was worth the damage that caused to the Shadow Chamber."

She knew an ethereal when she saw one and hate overwhelmed her from freshly awoken memories, but she struggled to keep that from overwhelming her.

As she fought with her emotions, John studied the image for a moment before his eyes widened in surprise. His voice was hushed with a kind of awe. "Is that… an Elder? Haven't seen one in at least a decade."

Tygan nodded causing the other man to cross his arms over his chest. "Yes. And I believe I now understand why."

He tapped the display, having it narrow in on the image of the head and what appeared to be genetic information coming up on the screen next to the picture. "The Elders appear to be afflicted with an aggressive form of tissue degeneration. Rapid muscular atrophy to a degree I had not even thought possible."

The hope that suddenly bloomed in John was heart breaking. She didn't think the ethereals would give up so easily. He turned to her and said, "So they're dying. Sounds like our job just got a whole lot easier."

Van wished that she could have that same kind of hope.

Tygan's expression confirmed her worries. "As with most things involving this adversary, it's never quite that simple."

The picture on the display changed at his gesture, showing pictures of the versions of the aliens she was more familiar with than the "modern day" ones with human DNA inserted into them. There was more genetic data shown. "The Elders have been aggressively searching for a cure to their condition for centuries. Each time they encountered a new species they procdured what genetic information and material they required and moved on to the next world. Until now."

The screen shifted to anatomical drawings of a man and woman. "I believe they found something in us. Something important enough to cause them to take root."

"Would've asked if that meant a cure, but have a feeling Vanessa might have a different idea," John commented as he gave her a pointed look. Tygan turned his confused gaze to her.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "During my time in the psi lab, I had flashbacks to my captivity with the aliens before they stuffed me into that damn suit. At least I think it was real memories and not something born of my fears."

Interest sparked in his mind and the haunted look fell away from the doctor's face. "I'm listening."

Trying to stay as brief as possible, she explained what she'd experienced while in the lab.

The troubled look returned. "In that case, I think we need to discuss what you retrieved from that Forge Facility then. It ties into this whole situation."

They walked over to the motionless, suited figured. "We all know that the ADVENT soldiers possess both human and alien characteristics. Previously it was believed that these were modifications to prisoners or unwitting volunteers."

The lines on John's face deepened as he shook his head and said in disgust. "Visit your local ADVENT recruit today."

Van mulled over everything that had been said. "I take it that this is something else?"

"Yes. Based off the findings at the Forge Facility, as well as studying this specimen, are actually manufactured."

She and John exchanged looks for horror, she turned back to Tygan. "Manufactured."

"Yes. Presumably so they can be tailor made for specific functions. Each soldiers possesses a unique genetic code with open fragments."

"Open for what?" John asked as Van absently probed the figure with her mental abilities. She frowned at what she found, but didn't say anything just yet.

"Whatever species they want to insert. Sectoid, muton, even the one the records call 'berserker'. They use that…material that was found at the blacksite to act a bonding agent"

She tried not to shiver at the thought of the mutons or the berserkers and was glad her people hadn't had to face either one just yet. Though she had a feeling that was likely to be soon. In the past, every time XCOM upped their game so did the aliens. She also didn't want to think about ADVENT troopers augmented with berserker genes.

Van refocused her attention on the thing before them. "And the one before us?"

A grim look set in. "It's still a blank template, but there is a significant difference between this and the other troops we've dealt with."

"Beside the fact it has my face?"

John stepped back from the table in shock. "It what?"

She stared at Tygan. "It looks just like me, only with white hair instead of my red."

The doctor sagged a little. "Yes, because it's based off your DNA."

"As it is now, not when I was still normal."

He winced. "I… wasn't sure how to bring this up, but considering what you now remember, it makes sense because the most worrisome part is its psionic ability." He squared his shoulders. "I can't even begin to fathom its potential. We're fortunate your team got it away when they did. If this were to be used by the Elders in the manner they intended for you…"

"Yeah," John replied grimly. "Not pretty. So I guess now we know for certain what this Avatar Project is."

"I can't quite confirm that, but it's a very strong possibility. The files that I need for that were deleted from the codex data due to something called the Avatar Directive. If I can get access to a functioning codex, I should be able to obtain those missing files."

He made an exasperated sound as he got a good look at their identical looks of dismayed horror. "It doesn't have to be brought on the ship. Just have someone use a skulljack on one in the field."

Thought about how the first codex popped up and worried about what would pop up when Worley managed to jack a codex. Well, they'd deal with that when the time came.

"Anything else?" Van really didn't want to ask that question, but wanted to be sure.

"That's it for now."

"So, any ideas of what Shen is up to?" John asked. She silently blessed him for trying to break up the tension in the air.

A small smile actually lit up Tygan's face. "Now that would be spoiling her surprise. Go on and see her down in engineering. If I come up with anything else I'll let you know."

As they walked down to Lily's domain, she asked. "How are you holding up?"

"You know you can take a look without having to ask."

"Besides that being rude, I happen to like actually talking to you."

There was a flash of a warm smile. "Thank you. As for how I'm doing. I'm... dealing. Though I probably should be the one asking how you're doing."

"I think at this point I'm just kind of numb to all the horrors the aliens have been cooking up."

"Can see how you'd end up like that. Just remember I'm here if you need to talk."

Van smiled. "I know, same here."

He just smiled again and the rest of the walk went by in easy silence.

Jane was waiting for them just outside of engineering looking baffled. "Glad you two are here. I think the Chief has lost her mind. She's laying out what looks like toy guns from my childhood."

Oh, that didn't sound good at all, but all Van was picking up from Lily was excitement, but nothing that hinted at madness. "All right, let's go see what she's come up with."

When Van entered the firing range that was used to test prototype weapons, she felt her breath catch. Yes, they did look somewhat like toy guns, since the grey colored weapons were somewhat boxy and plastic looking with bright red lights, but she recognized the designs immediately. Dr. Shen had been fiddling with those designs the entire time she'd known him. That his daughter was able to make them…

Lily beamed at her. "I knew you'd recognize the designs right away, Commander. One of dad's life long dreams has finally come true. Between the research that Tygan's people have put into the elerium cores our people have been salvaging, and that enormous data mountain you dropped on me, I was finally able to work out all of the kinks."

There was wonder in John's eyes as he picked up the laser assault rifle. "Never thought I'd see these become reality."

Jane looked skeptical as she picked up the shotgun and examined it. The Chief pointed to a paper target of a sectoid on a pile of bricks. "Give it a try."

After making sure the area was clear, Jane took aim and sent a blast of ruby colored light. The paper evaporated and the bricks started to burn. A slow grin formed on Jane's face. "Sorry for doubting you, Chief."

"It's okay, they do look a bit like toys, but we had to be careful with the materials used." She cast a sideways glance at John. "Well, Central, ready to give up your old gun for something newer?"

"Only if you can customize one of these to match my tried and true rifle."

A broad grin formed. "Challenge accepted."

Van hoped the new guns would provide the kind of advantage they were likely going to need in the future.


	39. Chapter 39

_Author's Note: I'm so terribly sorry about the delay, real life occurred. Also be warned, there's spoilers for the Alien Hunters DLC._

 _ **March 20, 2035**_

 _ **06:25 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

It felt strange to be in the back of the skyranger with a full squad of troops and Van on the other end of the comms directing things. Bradford had gotten too used to being on ops where it was just him and maybe two or three other people and Shen giving him what details she could.

Hell, it felt outright unnatural not to be standing at his Commander's side in Mission Control.

" _Central, Tygan has some details for you from the drones that've been deployed ahead of you,"_ Van commented over the comms. At least she didn't sound so grumpy now. She hadn't been thrilled with the plan of the squad arriving at the ops location at sunrise because of how early she had to get up to be ready for the mission. Though her tone had was one of likely bad news.

"Go ahead, Tygan."

" _There are a number of unusual energy signatures permeating this area. I'm seeing power fluctuations, intense heat, some psionic activity. All signs of possible conflict. You should move quickly."_

That was no great surprise considering the state of the skyranger. "Understood."

A few minutes later Tygan came back on. _"I am continually monitoring the energy signatures we detected near the target site. Possible subterranean activity detected near the target site. Possible subterranean activity detected. Strong interference blanketing the area. Sensors are unable to penetrate the rock face. However we did manage to get a steady read on Vahlen's signal."_

"Let me guess, it's probably coming from underground."

Van answered. _"That would be correct, Central."_

He kept his grunt of annoyed dismay to himself, though he suspected Van would've picked up on it. The light mental touch she kept with him was still there. It was a comforting, reassuring feeling. One that he hadn't realized he'd missed the last couple of months. There was no way of confirming it of course, but it solidified the conclusion that his Commander had done what she could for him even when she was unconscious in their enemies' hands.

Firebrand's voice over the intercom broke into his thought. _"Central, you need to hear this."_

Vahlen's voice crackled into life with a warning, something about dangerous life forms, but it was largely garbled.

The rest of the team exchanged looks and quiet mutters about mad scientists. Bradford scowled at them. "Dr. Vahlen is still a part of XCOM and I expect the appropriate level of respect for her."

There was an ominous silence over his comms and at the back of his mind as soon as the comment was made. Well, he'd see what happened with the scientist before seeing if he needed to try to act as a mediator. One thing Vanessa had made abundantly clear was that if Vahlen was allowed back into their organization, the woman was not going to be allowed to disrupt their current R&D team.

If they did find her and convince her to come back, they'd make her Valley's problem. The Resistance leader was more than capable of riding herd on Vahlen's scientific enthusiasm. Convincing Van to agree to that proposition took a great deal of effort on his part.

Then the skyranger was touching down on the ground, so he shelved those thoughts for later as he put on his game face. As the ramp lowered, he growled. "All right, people, keep your heads down and your mouths shut. Shieldmaiden, scout ahead."

She nodded and quietly slipped out, rapidly blending into the rocky terrain around them.

Once the rest of the squad fully emerged and took up positions outside of the plane, he took the moment to really survey the area and frowned a little. He never imagined Vahlen taking up residence in a cave of all places to take refuge.

Shieldmaiden stepped up to him as the rest of the squad began their advance. "Didn't go too far in, Central, but it looks like a weird combo of ancient ruins and damaged lab equipment. There's also something you need to see."

"Lead on."

Hearing the crunch of his boots on the ice seamed rock made him wince internally, but stealth had never been his forte. Still, he did the best he could.

Just inside the cave mouth was a worn brick platform and laying halfway over the threshold of the entrance was the corpse of yet another person in old XCOM gear. It looked the man had been shot in the back and in his hand was a data pad. After scanning the area and seeing no signs of movement, he picked up the pad.

The moment he turned it on, a note came up on the screen. _You must get this to John Bradford as quickly as possible. –M. Vahlen_

Below the note was year old contact information for him, ways to get in contact with her, that he suspected were just as old, and a massive encrypted data file. Now it was his turn to feel betrayed by the woman. She'd known how to get in contact with him all this time, but never did.

Why?

What had she been up to all these years?

With her help he might have been able to do more for XCOM. They could have at least set up some means for her to continue her research into the aliens' tech. Things still wouldn't have been the same without Van leading them, but they still had Shen, they might have been able to gear up their soldiers enough to make a difference.

There was a quiet whisper in his mind from Van. _I'm so sorry, John._

Bradford silently blew out his breath and hoped she picked up his gratitude for her sympathy, but he had a job to do and didn't have time to dwell. Over the comms he said. "Tygan, if I forward this file to you, think you can decrypt any of it?"

" _I will certainly do what I can."_

"Thanks."

At his gesture, the squad began to move forward in good order. Defcon paused at what appeared to be a pile of debris. There was a tone of distaste in her hushed voice. "Someone's been redecorating around here. With human skulls."

The silence over the comms was eloquent and he really hoped that Vahlen, and whatever personnel she had, hadn't really lost their minds in such a way.

Steele spoke softly over the comms. _"We've got company. The scaly kind."_

He couldn't hold in the groan. "Vipers. Why did it have to be vipers?"

At least none of the squad said anything, though there was a muffled snort of amusement from Van in his comms. He grinned back a little behind his helmet, then sobered the moment he saw the vipers. They were smaller than he was used to and paler.

Tygan commented about the difference over the comms and adding. _"I wonder if they're immature? Or possibly a new variation we haven't seen before."_

He shook his head at the thought of the aliens getting creative with those monsters and fell in with the others at the Commander's directions for positioning for an ambush.

Defcon grumbled quietly as she set up next to Bradford. "Hope these are kids and not something new." She frowned as she studied the trio of small, pale vipers with what seemed to be a red band tattooed along their eyes. "Can't imagine why they'd be _smaller_ if they're new and improved. And their guns look weird."

It was true, the weapons looked like a cross between a battle-axe and a rifle, not the sleek plasma rifles the vipers normally carried. They seemed to be on the alert to the squad's presence the way their heads darted around with tongues flicking in and out seemingly to taste the air as if they knew intruders were in the area, but couldn't locate them just yet.

At his gesture, Shieldmaiden and Snakebite, Brandt's call sign after the incident with the vipers a few weeks before, stepped forward, shotguns at the ready. There was a quick flash of scarlet light from Slinger's new rifle, that were followed up by odd sounding blasts from the closer range laser based weapons.

Central just shook his head. Life had truly become the thing of bad sci-fi movies since they now had laser weapons of all things. He still couldn't believe that he let Shen talk him into using a modified laser assault rifle to replace his custom weapon.

" _Central,"_ Snakebite said over the comms. _"You_ really _want to see this."_

When he looked up he could see the two rangers were staring into the room beyond with identical looks of sickened disbelief. That Van didn't say anything worried him, he knew she was still on the line and more than likely viewing the scene through the soldiers' cameras. As he made his careful way down the somewhat crumbly stairs from the platform, he asked. "Commander? Give me a heads up?"

" _This is something you need to see for yourself, Central."_

Yeah, definitely not good. He was getting too old for this shit. He hoped the next time Van tried to talk him out of doing a mission that he listened to her.

When he finally got to the room, he felt his own shock setting in. Without quite realizing it, he asked out loud. "What the hell?"

There were three broken containment units, before them were flickering holographic images of some of the alien species. At least, he thought they were. One was clearly a viper, but missing the typical feminine attributes that were the norm for the species. The next appeared to be a berserker, but the creature appeared to be even more musclebound than typical, not to mention some sort of helmet covering the top of the head and eyes with lines running to what seemed to be giant meat tenderizers on the backs of the hands. The third one looked like an archon, the oddly noble looking replacements of the floaters they'd dealt with during the invasion.

Tygan came back on the line. _"Central, you're really not going to like this. I've decoded more of Vahlen's files."_

Behind him the rest of Menace 1-5 moved into the room then took up guard positions. There were some muttered curses from the entire squad, as they took in the contents of the place. Something in the man's voice told him he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear. "Go ahead, Doctor."

" _It sounds like she found some embryos in cold storage somewhere. Decided to see what she could do with them. She, uh, seemed to think it was time for her to do research of her own choosing without being hindered by XCOM."_

There was a soft, angry hiss on the line from the Commander. This time he didn't have it in him to quash the mutters about Vahlen, because he was starting to think the same way. As angry as this situation was making him, Central couldn't help but think that was so very typical of the former head of XCOM's research division. And really, it wasn't XCOM that Vahlen would have been grumbling about, it would have been Van.

" _Are you sure you still want to retrieve her, Central?"_ Van asked him privately. _"Because if you do bring her back, I might kill her."_

Before he could answer that, she switched over to the squad comms. _"Menace 1-5, be aware that there's numerous life signs in the room ahead of you. And of course, that's where the signal is coming from."_

He found just a hint of a smile trying to curve the corners of his mouth at her wry tone. It wasn't proper radio protocol, but the truth was Van wasn't military and never would be. Trying to change that would be fruitless and aggravating for everyone involved. "Any idea of what we'll be facing?"

Snakebite spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt, bosslady, but I think I have an idea."

" _Go ahead."_

The ranger panned one of his cameras of the area he was scouting, showing a massive cavern filled with ruined buildings and unidentifiable bits and pieces of shattered equipment. Except there was one small shack in the center that looked dilapidated due to age and not damage. Then the view settled on hollowed out white ovals that had broken tops. He had a bad feeling about what they were. "Let me guess. Eggs."

" _Yeah. Looks about right for those little vipers we took out."_

The image of the room crawling with vipers of all sizes was one he didn't need. The sad part was that he didn't have a problem with terrestrial snakes, not even the giant pythons or venomous ones like the rattlers in the area he grew up in. It was just that these were an unsettling blend of human and snake.

Van spoke up again. _"Snakebite, angle your camera to your two o'clock, Shieldmaiden, if you can direct yours to your nine o'clock."_

As Central took a knee with his rifle at the ready, he had to smile a little bit. Maybe some of the military jargon had rubbed off on the Commander. The smile faded when she sent him a couple of roughly cropped images with locations hastily circled. Why were holes in the rocks indicated like that?

He scanned the area and realized just how _big_ those holes were and just how many of them there were. "Keep your eyes peeled people. The place is riddled with more holes than swiss cheese."

Sarin piped up. "Something's coming this way."

From her position on a ledge, Slinger said. "Two patrols. One north. One south. Three vipers each. All grown."

"Steele, Snakebite, Cyber, you're with me on the north. Shieldmaiden take the rest to the south with Slinger on overwatch."

After getting their affirmatives, he moved forward with the rifle at the ready, trying not to feel like he wasn't trying to hide behind a toy. He'd already seen the effectiveness of the "toys". Still, it was hard to change the lizard hindbrain so quickly. Remembering the aliens' ability to spit area of effect poison, he indicated for his team to spread a bit as they took cover to prepare their attack.

The vipers reacted as they always did by hissing and slithering for cover. A lance of light shot from overhead searing its way through the head of one of the reptilian monsters. His shot wasn't quite so accurate, just barely winging the creature. The lack of recoil was more than a little offputting and he resolved to go back to his proper rifle after this.

Instead of firing her rifle, Steele grabbed her psi-amplifier and sent what looked like a small bolt of lightning arcing into the uninjured alien. It jittered for a moment then collapsed, but still alive judging by the rapid movement of its chest. A small smile lit up the woman's face. "Those amplifierss really do make a difference."

The viper he'd tagged lashed its tongue out at him, but Central managed to duck down just in time. His stomach roiled as he felt some of its saliva drip onto his cheek.

From the ruined wall that he'd taken cover behind, Cyber rose just enough to take a shot at the viper that was still upright, except it ducked away just in time.

Without saying a word, Snakebite leapt over the rock formation he'd hunkered down behind, sword in one hand to rush the still moving viper. The big ranger ducked under the lashing tongue, but couldn't quite avoid the plasma blast from the alien's rifle that connected with his left shoulder. Apparently not slowed down by his injury, Snakebite grasped the hilt of his sword with both hands and with a smooth swing decapitated the viper.

On his way back, the man casually shoved the tip of his blade into the throat of the creature still writing on the ground to end its misery, as well as eliminating the threat.

Trying not to feel his age, Central contacted Shieldmaiden. "Status?"

" _Just waiting on you, Central."_

He smiled very slightly to himself as he mentally called her a smartass.

Then Tygan said, _"Central, the signal that we originally picked up seems to be coming from that undamaged building."_

"Figured as much. Any movement from those lifesigns?"

Van answered. _"They seem agitated, but no advances on your position yet."_

"Slinger, how good of a view do you have of that shack?"

" _I can see the whole damn cavern from up here, Central."_

"Good, stay on overwatch there. The rest of you form a defensive perimeter around the place while Bird dog sends his gremlin in to get what info it can."

They fell into place in good order, including Cyber and Snakebite once the medic patched up his shoulder, and the atmosphere of the area took on a tense feeling of anticipation. It reminded him of an impending thunderstorm on the prairies of the Midwest or the start of a sandstorm the few times he was in the desert of the Middle East. Which of course led to the vision of a storm full of swarming vipers.

He shook his head to banish that unsettling image just as Bird dog said, _"Central, you gotta hear this and you ain't gonna like it."_

Vahlen's voice came on the air. _"An extreme biological hazard is present throughout this area. Genetically enhanced alien species in this region are of_ particular _concern to the civilian populace. Do not approach under any circumstances. All attempts should be made to avoid contact with these life-forms."_

The fear in her voice was chilling. Her words were infuriating.

There was a sudden shout from Sarin. "Incoming!"

For a time there was no clear thought except for acquiring his next target as the immature vipers they'd faced earlier came out of the holes in a hissing, seething flood straight out of an ophidiophobe's worst nightmares.

While the laser weapons had better "ammo" capacity than the ballistic or magnetic weapons they were used to, they still needed to be reloaded from time to time as their energy cores got depleted. Rather than risk getting overwhelmed as he tried to reload, he drew his sword.

As he began hacking his way through the reptilian aliens, he silently acknowledged to himself just how ironic it was that Van had ended up going a similar combat skillset that he did. Even if she was abysmal with an assault rifle.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steele lashing out with more electrical effects. They didn't seem to do a lot of damage, but they did seem to stun and blind the creatures. While the others called out to one another to warn each other about approaching threats and dealing with them with carefully aimed shots, Central Officer Bradford went to plow the road.

Letting his disgust fuel his strength, he hacked and slashed his way through what seemed like walls of pale scales that easily parted under his blade resulting in cascades of amber colored ichor. From time to time he heard Van's voice giving him a direction, but other than that he was lost in the slaughter.

When the last one fell, he leaned over his bent knees to catch his breath. Fuck, he was getting too old for this shit. In the back of his mind he felt Van's admiration. Over his comms he heard her ask, _"Are you all right?"_

"Fine. How's. The squad?"

Cyber answered as he started to examine him. "Just a few bumps and bruises. Thankfully these little vipers don't spit poison or grab people. You're the only one that has me worried."

"Just. Need a. Breather."

"Uh huh." The medic replied dubiously as Central tried to fend him off and had his gremlin examine him. The rest of the squad took the opportunity for their own breather and to check over their weapons. Cyber continued. "Commander'll have my hide if you're about to burst something and it's not caught in time."

He couldn't hide his scowl at the man as he straightened up. "I'm just fine."

The medic looked at the readout from the gremlin and nodded easily, then waved the drone back to hovering over his shoulder, then gave Central a sunny smile. "Yeah, you are."

Central shook his head.

Tygan commented. _"I've decoded more of the journal. It seems my predecessor decided to unlock as much potential as she could in these creatures. They got loose when there was a mini-earthquake that disrupted their containment units. She called them subjects Alpha, Beta and Gamma."_

He circled his hand to the squad to get them moving again and hazarded a guess in response to the doctor. "Archon, berserker and viper?"

" _That is correct. She seemed particularly fascinated by Gamma saying he seemed to have the most intelligence and responsiveness."_

Of course she'd be fascinated by that thing. He grunted a bit. "Well, looks there's still more to this place. Don't suppose you're picking any other signals?"

" _Not at the moment,"_ was the Commander's tense reply.

Yeah, he wasn't at all surprised at that response either.

At the end of the cavern there was a manmade wall that had a large jagged gap down the middle. Beyond that was another, smaller, cavern with numerous rocky outcrops and what looked like an icy cave at the end. That didn't look ominous at all.

When the two psi-operatives exchanged uneasy looks, he tried not to sigh. "How bad is it?"

"It's hard to tell, sir," Steele replied. "Just feels different from what we're used to, but it's definitely alien in nature."

Van agreed. _"Sensors are picking up a sudden spike of psionic energy in that area."_

As they made their cautious way down to the smaller cavern, Bird dog said over the comms. _"Looks like there's someone buried under the ice ahead of us."_

"Can you tell who it is?" It'd be just his luck they went through this only to find out that Vahlen was dead after all. Though it was probably a good thing they had warning about her escaped experiments.

" _Negative. Sorry, Central."_

"It's okay, Bird dog. Any sign of more vipers or any of Vahlen's pets?"

The responses were negative except Shieldmaiden had to tack on an additional comment. _"Central, there's more of those snake holes around the place and a lot more broken shells."_

He had a feeling he was never going to see a cave system the same way again, but didn't let it deter him from completing the mission. As he began to make his cautious way to the body, the Commander made a few pointed comments regarding the squad's placement, even though she'd been largely hands off this mission, letting him run it as he wanted.

While he may have more experience at being in combat, he didn't have Van's sense for tactics or her eye for a good ambush.

Just before he reached the body, Van screamed in his mind, _Fall back, John!_

Startled, he lost his footing on the icy surface causing him to fall on his ass. Which saved his life as a massive white blur flashed through the area he'd been walking in. Hissing angrily a viper, one that was easily twice the size of any he'd seen before.

The level of intelligence he could see in its hateful gaze was terrifying.

Didn't let it stop him from shooting at the thing as it lunged at him again. As he rolled away he saw that he'd scored a good solid hit on it considering the smoking, blackened gouge along its abdomen.

Except the lunge was a fake and it was the tail he should have been looking out for. The tip got only a glancing shot on him, but it packed a wallop as it got his bad leg. Pain seared through him and he collapsed as his leg gave out.

Unconsciousness claimed him as his head hit the unforgiving stone floor.


	40. Chapter 40

_**March 20, 2035**_

 _ **07:03 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

"Is that Gamma?" Tygan asked hesitantly as a massive shadow slithered its way toward Central.

Her eyes widened and she mentally shouted her warning to John.

Fear ran through Van when she saw Central collapse from the giant viper's attack, but didn't let it slow her down. Between the armor's monitoring equipment and her own telepathic link with John, she knew he was alive, which helped to maintain her calm.

She was pleased to see that Shieldmaiden and Snakebite were already moving in on the creature as the rest of the squad fending off the sudden incursion of vipers, both the smaller immature ones and the full grown ones they were used to.

It was even better to see just how effective the laser weapons were against the big monster.

Unfortunately, the two rangers weren't able to put it down immediately. Even more unfortunately it was faster than its size implied. Seemingly even more so than its smaller female counterparts.

The viper wrapped around Snakebite in a lightning like move. His screams echoed loudly in the cavern and were interspersed the awful crunching sounds of bones being broken. Without letting go of the man, it swiveled its head as Shieldmaiden charged it with her sword.

When it hissed at her there was a flash of lurid purple light that Van associated with psionic energies. Shieldmaiden froze in place with a fine rime of frost coating her.

Well, that was something new and different. A very not good new and different.

"Slinger –"

" _On it, boss."_

As Van had come to expect, the sniper's shot was true. Unfortunately, contrary to what she was used to, the shot did not put down the viper, though it did put out an eye. The creature squalled angrily, glaring with its remaining eye in the woman's direction, the other eye socket was a smoldering, blacking pit. It dropped Snakebite with a thud, eliciting an agonized groan from the injured man.

Slinger cursed under her breath as she took aim with her rifle again, but could only wing one of its arms due to how it was moving about. The shot did cause the creature to drop its plasma rifle and left the arm dangling at its side.

" _Hey, asshole!"_ Defcon shouted. _"Yeah, you. The walking purse."_

The head whipped around to glare at the grenadier and opened its mouth, presumably to spit poison, but it didn't get the chance. The barrels of her LMG spun with a nearly inaudible, high pitched whine as it spit out streams of laser fire into its mouth. Defcon had to dodge out of the way of an enraged viper, one of the types they considered normal, not one of the "juveniles".

The big male viper was still standing, but barely. Its jaw hung at an odd angle and it swayed from side to side. All the fire was gone from its remaining eye as it swiveled its head around. It raised its empty hand and what appeared to be a swirling vortex of psionic energy.

Tygan yelled out. "That's some sort of psionic portal!"

"Menace 1-5, do whatever you can to keep the viper from that portal," she ordered hot on the heels of the doctor's information.

Sarin stepped between the viper and its destination, then Steele joined him on his right. Both let their rifles fall to their sides on the combat slings to draw their psi-amplifiers. Instead of actually doing anything herself, Steele placed a hand on Sarin's shoulder as a streamer of psionic energy flowed from his amp to wrap around the viper, holding it in place.

Through gritted teeth his said. _"Can't. Hold. On. Long."_

Seeing that everyone except Slinger was occupied, Van tried not to grind her teeth again as she clenched the high tensile stress ball Lily had made for her so she didn't destroy any more railings around the hologlobe. The ball popped loudly which earned her a few sideways glances from the crew.

Not wanting to distract her team, including the sniper who seemed busy lining up the perfect shot, even as the viper started to writhe in the grip of the two psi-operatives. There had to be something that she could do.

She reached out to Zoria.

 _Ma'am?_

 _Can you help me channel energy to Steele and Sarin?_

There was no questions about why or what she planned to do. A mental hand was extended to her with the offer of power being freely given. She clasped hands with the young psion, then extended another hand to Steele. While her telekinesis was powerful, it was short range, but her telepathy had a much greater range. Fortunately the complex the squad was in was well within that range.

There was a moment of astonishment from the other woman, but her mental hand was quickly grabbed and a sense of gratitude flowed down the mental link. She emptied out her mind, becoming nothing more than a conduit for the combined energies.

A very tiny voice buried in the back of her mind whispered that this was far too familiar and easy to do.

The Commander banished firmly squashed that thought. On the screen she could see Sarin's grip on the viper firming, then little arcs of electricity started crackling around the alien as part of the psionic energy holding it in place. The remaining eye bulged, the only movement it was allowed to show its distress.

It proved that the eye made a fine target for Slinger who was finally able to put a clean shot through the orb into the brain behind it.

Behind the two psionics, the portal closed with an abrupt snap and Sarin let the massive corpse drop to the ground. With another burst of gratitude, Steel let go of their connection.

The death of the leader seemed to deflate the remaining vipers and it didn't take long for the soldiers to mop up the aliens.

Just before Van let go of her connection with Zoria, the other psi-operative commented. _Wow, what a rush, Athena! We need to work on that some more!_

 _Not feeling fatigued or strained?_

 _Nope! I feel more energized._

 _Good, let me know if there are any problems._

There was the feeling of assent, then the connection was dropped. After drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she turned her attention outward. She studied the squad's vitals on the display from Cyber's gremlin and tried not to wince. The good news was that everyone was still alive. For now. Barely in the case of Snakebite.

Shieldmaiden came out of the weird immobilization with a case of hypothermia. Central's femur was broken, and even though he was rendered unconscious, there was no concussion. Bird dog had been savaged by a couple of the small vipers, not to mention inhaling some of the aerosol poison from one of the adults.

As it turned out the body that Central had been approaching before the viper showed up wasn't Vahlen's. It was an unidentified male.

The situation was bad, but could have been so very much worse. The laser weapons had been invaluable in taking down that massive viper.

She asked over the comms. "Chief, are you there?"

Lily replied. _"Of course, Commander."_

"Can you use the remote you made for Central to get the Avenger to Menace 1-5's location?"

" _I should be able to. You think it's safe?"_

"Yes. All hostiles have been eliminated."

" _In that case, we should be able to get there in about fifteen to twenty minutes."_

"Good, thank you." Then she switched back to Firebrand. "Avenger is ETA twenty minutes."

" _Roger, Commander."_

Thankfully the pilot didn't seem surprised that the Avenger was coming out to her rather than the other way around.

Tygan moved up next to her, a frown on his face. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, why?"

"You just went completely silent and unmoving just now with a massive spike of psionic energy."

She nodded and explained what she and Zoria did and added. "I wasn't sure if it would work because we couldn't be in physical contact."

The frown changed to a look of interest. "Fascinating."

"And before you ask, I'm sure once we've retrieved everyone and things have settled down, the four of us can probably do some experiments to see what this…gestalt can do."

He nodded in return, giving her a small, wry smile, then remained silent for a bit as she attended to organizing the change of location.

"You know, Commander," Tygan said thoughtfully, once she'd fallen silent again to drink some coffee. "I had some hopes of meeting with my predecessor."

Feeling the thrum of the engines beneath her feet, Van moved over to the hand rail with Tygan following her. "I'm sensing a but in there somewhere."

"Quite so. The things that she did in that place… I cannot imagine why she would give those things psionic abilities in addition to who know what else."

The Avenger lifted with its usual ponderous dignity.

Van rubbed her forehead. "You heard her words, Doctor. It was because she could with no one to ride herd on her. Thanks to her lack of common sense, we still have two more of those things running around besides half of my alpha fireteam being down for the count for an extended period of time. One of whom I'm not even sure will ever be able to fight again after this."

A message popped up on her tablet from Doctor Cueves. _Surgery is prepped for Mr. Brandt as soon as he's onboard._

That was a relief.

Tygan adjusted his glasses. "Brandt is a tough man, even more so after the enhancement he elected to have implanted."

"That thing managed to break his back in multiple locations, besides most of his ribs and both arms. That is just a rough estimate of his injuries. Cuevas is ready to do what she can when we get him onboard. I'm going to need you to deal with the other injuries. Once that's done, you can finish working on the rest of those files to see what we'll be dealing with."

He nodded. "And what about Vahlen if she's still alive?"

"Then she'd better hope that the hole she's hidden in is deep enough that I never find her and make her pay for unleashing more horrors on this world."


	41. Chapter 41

_**March 22, 2035**_

 _ **06:00 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

Returning to consciousness on the Avenger was a mixed blessing.

While it was good to know he was safe, Bradford wasn't exactly keen on waking up in the infirmary with assorted lines plugged into different parts of his body. Even if the place was closer to a modern medical center than what they had for so long. Even less so to realize that his bad leg was wrapped up in an immobilizer from hip to foot. Whatever drugs the IV line was pumping into him seemed to be keeping the pain at bay for the moment.

A face came into view and it definitely wasn't Van. In fact of the two doctors on board, Doctor Cuevas was the last one he wanted to see since there was something about the woman that terrified him. She gave him a slight smile, but her voice was soft when she said, "Good morning, _Mister_ Bradford."

He gritted his teeth. For some reason when she greeted him like that it really grated on his nerves and she probably knew it considering how often he'd told her it was okay to call him just by his last name. Somehow keeping his tone at a pleasantly even tone, he replied. "Morning, Doctor. Want to tell me what the damages are?"

It hadn't escaped his attention that there were occupants in the other beds, including the intensive care pod. Her gaze followed his and something shifted in her expression. The doctor sighed. "I'll let Richard go over your health with you, Central. The rest I'll leave to the Commander. Who I banished from sitting by your bedside, because no matter how quiet she is, and she can be very, she doesn't have a restful presence. Despite the fact the rest of the patients are currently under light sedation."

That took him back, but he wasn't going to argue with one of the people in charge of his care. Fortunately, Tygan chose that moment to show up. Cuevas gave her fellow doctor a cheerful smile, still keeping her voice low so as to not disturb the sleeping patients. "He's all yours. I'll leave so you two have privacy to talk if you keep it down."

Tygan nodded as he grabbed a chair to sit down next to Bradford's bed. Doing as Cuevas had asked and keeping his voice low, the doctor asked, "Where did you want me to start?"

"My people of course."

"Of course," the doctor sighed. Then, while beginning his usual scans, proceeded to detail the list of injuries sustained by Brandt, Jane, and Worley, since they were the most serious. Aside from Brandt, it looked like they would be making full recoveries in a few days, though they were to stay on light duty for a time once released to make sure everything healed right.

"Brandt will walk again," Tygan assured him. "Though until we have him up and moving, I'm not sure if he'll be able to resume his combat duties."

While it was hard to hear about the soldier's injuries, it was good to know that the man would live and not be trapped in a broken husk of a body for the rest of his life. "Any idea of how long his recovery will take?"

The doctor looked grim. "I truly don't know. Before I would say months, if not years, but with the enhancement he had opted for to help with his durability, it might be only months."

"But with how new some of this is, it's hard to tell?"

"Precisely."

Finally he worked up the nerve to ask, "So how bad off am I?"

"Once again you're an extraordinarily lucky man, Bradford, particularly with the fact you seem to possess a thick skull."

Bradford grunted. It wasn't the first time he had a physician make that comment. It usually wasn't a compliment.

The other man continued. "Besides some abrasions and contusions, you only have the broken femur to deal with. No concussion from the way you hit your head."

"So why was I out of it for two days?"

"We kept you sedated to give time for the rapid recovery system time to do its work."

"And?"

Tygan gave him an odd look. "Provided you don't do anything to aggravate the injury, your leg should be fully healed within a week."

He was stunned. A week. At his age it should take months and possibly multiple surgeries. "You're sure? Just a week?"

The doctor scowled at him. "Quite. Unlike Brandt's injuries, yours is a rather straightforward fracture. Which is a type of injury we've been able to accurately track for decades before the aliens showed up." The scowl became sterner. "Provided the patient doesn't do anything stupid."

He held up his hands. "Promise to listen this time."

"Good. Otherwise I'd have to set Vanessa on you even worse than what she probably already has in mind."

Well, he was a little worried about that. "Hope this doesn't mean a wheelchair or crutches."

"No, that's why we have you in the immobilizer, but you still need to stay off your feet as much as possible."

Van's presence was suddenly much stronger than the usual quiet touch in the back of his head in her usual signal that she was on her way. Tygan smiled. "Right on time. Let's get you disconnected before she arrives."

At least modern day catheters were self-removing rather than having the embarrassment of being handled while it was removed.

"There's one more thing I'd like to talk to you about before I release you."

That didn't sound good. He eyed the suddenly nervous doctor warily. "Go on."

"While I was monitoring how the rapid recovery was working on you I noticed something interesting."

Bradford remained silent as he continued to stare at Tygan. The other man fiddled with his glasses. "It seems that it was doing more than just regenerating your injured bone, it was rejuvenating your skeletal system overall."

"Rejuvenating. You mean what? Taking some of the wear and tear off?"

"Essentially, yes. I believe that if it's adjusted correctly it can be used to reverse the biological clock."

That floored him. When he finally could speak, he asked the obvious question. "So what's the catch?"

"It would require you to be in something like the stasis suit or one of the critical care pods for two to four weeks."

"Well, not too bad, but not something I can do now."

"No, but it _is_ something you may want to think about. Before you ask, it is something I'm considering should we achieve our goal."

"Yeah," he said absently as he rubbed at his jaw while trying to wrap his mind around the implications.

"Is everything okay?" Van asked quietly from the doorway. The dark grey eyes surveyed the infirmary with concern and he had a feeling she was using her psionics to check on the patients.

Bradford answered as soothingly as possible. "Everything's fine. Just given a lot to think about just now."

There was a swift mental touch, one that he knew she let him feel out of courtesy so that she could confirm what he was saying before she relaxed. When she moved away from the doorway, Tygan headed towards it. "I've left instructions on both your tablets for after care and I'll leave you two to get Bradford ready to get out of here."

Hoping the rest of the patients remained asleep while Van helped him get dressed, he nodded. "Thanks, Tygan."

"Of course, just keep in mind what we discussed."

Van eyed the two of them, but didn't say anything as the doctor left. When they were the only two conscious people in the room, she gave him a small smile then said, "Hey handsome."

Then she leaned in to give him a delicate kiss and for a brief moment all was right with his world. Until she leaned back and studied him thoughtfully. "So how do you want to do this? I don't think you'd appreciate me carrying you with my telekinesis."

She sent him an image of him floating in the air like a sack of potatoes and smirked at the way he choked. He shook his head at her. "Can walk, thank you."

"Need help getting dressed?"

What he really wanted was a long hot shower before trying to struggle with getting dressed. Van held up the thick bathrobe she kept for him in her quarters. "Let's get this on you, then up to my room and we'll worry about everything else from there."

He smiled in relief. "Good plan."

"I do have them every so often."

As she helped him get into the robe, then provided a shoulder to help him hobble along until he got the swing of things, Bradford could finally appreciate how she felt when he retrieved her from the wreckage of the psi lab. He wasn't surprised that they didn't encounter anyone on the way, Van would've done the same courtesy for him that he'd done for her.

Though by the time everything was said and done, including the interesting experience of being supported by an unseen force in the shower while she helped him clean up, Bradford was grateful to be sprawled out on the bed. A pile of pillows helped him sit upright so he could talk with her while they both worked. Or rather she worked and he caught up on reports.

"So, want to tell me what it was that Tygan said that upset you so much?"

He was surprised she'd waited that long and rubbed the back of his head. "It's complicated."

Amusement lit up her expression. "Of course it is. It's something that Tygan came up with."

After he blew out his breath, he explained about the rejuvenation.

There was no hint of what she was thinking as she quietly said, "Oh."

He'd already made up his mind, it was an easy decision after all, but being curious, he asked, "What do you think?"

"It's your body, John, this should be up to you."

That response wasn't entirely a surprise, she'd never try to push him on something like this. "Van, considering what we are to each other, I would like your opinion."

She didn't answer right away, her gaze unfocused as she ran her hand over her mouth. Then she refocused on him. "First, as the Commander of XCOM, I'd want you to do it because I can't imagine running this madhouse without you. Just the last two days alone have made me appreciate all the little things you do. Not that I didn't before, but reality really sank in this time."

He smiled a little at that, once again she underestimated how much of a difference she made in running said madhouse, but didn't say anything, wanting to give her time to say her piece.

She got to her feet and walked over to him, then sat down on the edge of the bed next to his uninjured leg. Van laced her fingers with his. "As the woman who loves you… Are you crazy to think my answer would be anything but go for it? It won't give us back the twenty years that were taken from us, but maybe it'll give us more time for the future. I mean it when I say your age doesn't bother me, but I'm aware the difference it would make in how much time we have together."

Bradford hoped she meant what he thought she was. "What do you want, Van?"

"A life with you, John, once this is all over." A kind of grim determination seemed to fill her. "I won't let them beat us again, somehow I'll find the way for us to be free. It'll probably take a long time to clean up afterwards, but I think we can make it work." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she seemed to have a hard time meeting his eyes, but didn't look away. "I want to build a family with you if we can."

Struck speechless by what he was feeling, he carefully leaned over to rest his forehead against hers. "I'd like that, Van. More than I can say."

A sunny smile lit up her face as she ran her hand along his cheek, letting him feel her complicated mix of emotions. Though there was a hesitation that hadn't been in her voice. "What is it, angel?"

"A potential issue between us."

There was only one he could think of at the moment. "Vahlen."

"Yeah. The guy mentioned in her notes, Miguel Gutierrez, Valley knows him. Can get us in touch with him if you want."

After what they found in that complex, what Vahlen let loose on the world, well, that proved to be an easy answer as well. "I'll follow your lead on that."

"Are you sure? I know you considered her valuable to the cause."

"Once, she was. Now, I'm afraid she's a threat if she isn't reined in."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Anyway, enough about her." He ran a hand along her cheek. "Think the busy Commander can spend a little time with her new fiancé?"

All the shadows were banished at the way her entire being seemed to light up with happiness. "I think she can sneak in some quality time right about now."

It felt like a lot more than just his leg was truly healing.


	42. Chapter 42

_**March 28, 2035**_

 _ **10:23 Central Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Sargent, Texas**_

"Christ almighty," Shieldmaiden whispered in awe as she studied the dead hulk of pig in front of her. Her da grew some good sized oinkers on his farm, but this thing really took the cake. It had to be at least six hundred pounds. Something she thought was the stuff of urban legend. Yet there it was, bigger than life and twice as ugly. Maybe worse now that it was dead and starting to stink.

Central walked up to the thing while dusting himself off. He'd taken a nosedive into the dusty ground when the thing had decided to charge him. The distraction had been what she needed to put the beast down. He shook his head. "No wonder Gutierrez wanted help with this monster."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and debated having Cyber examine the older man. Athena would do worse than killer if Central got broken again so soon after his last injury. Though it was pretty surreal the old man up and walking around in a week of his leg getting broken. Hell, it was pretty surreal that she was up and moving after that psionic attack from the giant ass viper. "Hey Central, think it could be an alien experiment gotten loose?"

There was a muffled snort from the Commander over the comms and Shieldmaiden found she was hard pressed to keep her smirk to herself. While he gave her the evil eye, Cyber piped up. "It's not."

She twisted around to stare at the combat medic. "You just tested that thing?"

"Yup. Wanted to see if it was edible. Which it is as long as it's cooked thoroughly."

Bird dog said disgustedly. "You're shitting me."

"Nope. It's pork like any other pig." He paused to observe the thing. "There's just a lot more of it than most. Heads up, got company."

When she looked over her shoulder, she saw a man a blond man with sunburned fair skin dressed up as a stereotypical cowboy with a flak vest and an assault rifle at his back. His hazel eyes grew huge when he took in the carcass then gave voice to a loud whoop. "Hol-ee shit! You guys got the bastard! Miguel's gonna shit himself"

An amused voice commented in her ear. _"That would be an apt description of how he reacted when he found out the Boss Hog and its harem were taken out."_

The Boss Hog and its harem of wild and feral sows had been a stone bitch to deal with, though at least they weren't as bad as the aliens or ADVENT. The Commander had been skeptical about the resistance cell needing assistance with a "few pigs", which had proven that the woman really was a city girl. When pigs went feral, they were worse than dogs between their smarts, their size and the tusks that some of them grew, likely from the strains of wild boars that had been introduced into the US at one time.

Over her comms she asked, "Prophet, how's it going for 2-1?"

The psi-operative, given the callsign of Prophet due to his tendency to know things ahead of time, made a disgusted sound. _"We rounded up the piglets."_

Commander McKenzie asked sharply. _"What's wrong?"_

There was a muffled snort, then Defcon commented. _"One of them pissed on him when he picked it up."_

" _Oh,"_ was all she said at first. Then she coughed. _"I'm sure Miguel's people have something you can use to clean up with."_

Shieldmaiden made the mistake of exchanging glances with Cyber and both had to hastily look away before they started laughing. Behind her Central cleared his throat. When she looked at him there was a faint gleam in his eyes along with a slight upward twitch to his lips. There was a slight hint of laughter as he commented to the cowboy. "Harrison, want to arrange transport for the carcasses?"

"Already done, Mister Bradford. There's one thing we gotta do first."

"And what would that be?" He asked.

She couldn't help the grimace at the massive corpse in front of her. "That thing's gonna have a whole lot of guts."

"Yep," the cowboy nodded his head in agreement, "but need to get 'em out before they poison the meat though."

All she could do was sigh and draw her sword. There was no way a knife was going to do the job, she just had to be careful with how deep she cut.

By the time the cleaning was done, she needed a cleanup worse than Prophet. As did the rest of Menace 1-5, which included Central, when they stepped up to help her in her absolutely disgusting task.

Thankfully someone took that into account when an extra pickup truck showed up to transport them back to town in the bed of the truck. She was even more grateful that the ride was quick and was somewhat amused that soldiers and truck got hosed off all at once when they arrived at the small town.

The Commander was waiting for them, along with lunch, once the cleanup was done. Jane didn't try to hide her relief at not having to help butcher the massive hog. At least lunch proved to be grilled and fried fish and seafood, _not_ pork. She had a feeling they were going to be seeing a lot of pork based dishes in the mess for a while.

At least it wasn't going to be mutton or chicken for a time.

It wasn't entirely surprising that she ended up sitting at the same table as the Commander and Central with Miguel, a tall lanky Hispanic man, Harrison and another of Miguel's lieutenants by the name of Domingo, who looked to be a cousin of some sort to Miguel. She'd been hard pressed not to roll her eyes at the fact that both Miguel and Domingo were dressed as cowboys like Harrison. Since the gear was well worn, this was their usual attire and not something they put on to impress the "tourists".

That the Commander and Central were still in their armor like Jane was a relief, especially since they still had their weapons to hand. She privately acknowledged to herself she was more worried about the Commander than Central. It was hard to believe they'd had the Commander for only two months with the way things had turned around with her in charge and she didn't want anything happen to her.

Central had already proven to be a tough bastard that survived shit he probably shouldn't have.

At least their hosts didn't seem offended by the XCOM soldiers staying in their armor. After seeing how well armed everyone in town was, she wasn't surprised that they weren't offended that they kept their guns. Though the swords did get some odd glances.

Conversation over food was kept as light hearted as possible, mainly the Commander learning what she could of the area. As the lunch dishes got cleared and they were served strong coffee with fresh churros, she asked, "Was there anything else your people need?"

Bright white teeth flashed against his swarthy skin in a smile. "Your people taking care of the big bastard and his harem took care of our problems. And the piglets you brought in will supplement our livestock just fine."

She nodded and took a drink from her cup. Once she set it back down, she gave him a pointed look. "And your intel about the doctor?"

The smile disappeared. "Are you sure you want to do this, Commander?"

"Why do you ask?"

He exchanged looks with his two men. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know she's insane, right?"

The Commander just did that patient thing of hers where she didn't say anything, but just _looked_ at a person as she delicately nibbled at a churro.

Miguel sighed. "She comes to town every two, three months for supplies. Wanted to set up a base of operations here, but she was just off, so said no."

Central leaned forward with an intent expression. "Do you know where she is then?"

Jane actually pitied the man for being the recipient of their stares. She knew from personal experience just how damn uncomfortable that could be.

Tucker from Mission Control suddenly shouted over the comms. _"Commander, get out of there! We're picking up multiple bogeys heading your way!"_

Athena shoved her chair back from the table and grabbed her shotgun, even as Shieldmaiden and Central scrabbled to their feet. In a remarkable calm voice to the confused Resistance members, she said, "Get your people under cover. There's incoming."

The three men took off at a run, but not in a panic. A siren began to wail and the townspeople stopped what they were doing and began to run to various shelters.

An angry roar was heard in the distance. It was between them and where the skyranger was landed. As the rest of the squads moved in on her, Athena calmly pumped her shotgun. "Well, it looks like we get to fight our way out of here after all." Touching her earpiece, she said over the comms. "Deploy drones so I can see what's going on."

Central eyeballed Athena. "We're not going to just leave these people on their own, right?"

"Of course not. I want you to take 2-1 to the other side of town so we have even coverage." A small smile curved her lips. "Let's go kick some alien ass."

There were broader, more vicious smiles in return from the two squads.


	43. Chapter 43

_**March 28, 2035**_

 _ **12:15 Central Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Sargent, Texas**_

The anger she felt at the announcement of the incoming aliens wasn't a surprise. It was an old and well known feeling by now.

What she hadn't expected was the intense desire to kill them all herself.

As much as she wanted to say that it was because she was being affected by the bloodlust of her people that she was picking up on, but she couldn't. Van was self-aware enough to know that the emotion was all hers.

It wasn't until after she'd barked out her commands for where everyone, including Gutierrez's people, were to go that she realized she might have stepped on some toes. Athena shrugged it off since no one had protested and done as she commanded.

Once she was in position on a rooftop of one of the buildings outlying the town, she said, "Someone give me an idea of what we're dealing with here."

Lily answered. _"Commander, you really should get out of there. There's at least ten dropships coming in."_

There was a quick intake of breath from Shieldmaiden by her side, but no other reaction.

Searching the sky, she asked. "You expect me to abandon these people?"

There was a gusty, resigned sigh. _"No, Commander."_

Athena also suspected there wasn't enough time for them to get to the skyranger anyway. She'd made sure the Avenger was stationed far enough away in the event something like this happened. Though admittedly she never expected _ten_ dropships to be incoming. That meant at least thirty hostiles. Likely a great deal more than that.

Good thing she'd brought both squads along for this little outing. And it looked like plenty of the locals were ready to defend the place as well. She nodded a little to herself when she saw the defensive measures they had in place. Clearly they'd been training for this kind of eventuality.

She just hoped the presence of her people wasn't the cause of the raid, but she wouldn't let herself dwell on that. "What's the ETA on the dropships and our drones?"

There was a crackle of static in response.

"Bird dog, we're being jammed?"

The hacker hesitated. "Yeah, we are, Athena."

"Is that affecting our local comms as well?" she asked as she made sure her helmet was secure.

He sounded grim as he said, "Yes."

"Right. I'm going to need people to act as liaisons with the locals while I have someone watch over me. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to act while I coordinate with everyone."

Shieldmaiden frowned, but didn't take her eyes off the sky. "Athena… Just what are you planning?"

She gave the soldier a bloodthirsty grin as she lowered herself to a prone position on the roof. "I'm going to take a page out of our enemies' book, but it means having people I know to help with the coordination."

While she didn't have to be familiar with a person's mind to talk to them telepathically, it was easier for her to do so with someone she knew. Not to mention she didn't want to upset some poor soul by them suddenly having her voice in their head. Her people knew about her abilities. Some were a little uneasy about it, but they all would handle it in a situation like this.

Athena closed her physical eyes and opened her mental ones, letting her mind fly free from her body. As she swept the area for the incoming hostiles, she reached out for the most familiar mind. _John._

Central didn't stop his flow of orders to both Menace 2-1 and the townspeople that were defending the area he was in charge of to respond to her. _Making up for lack of comms? Good. See anything?_

 _Lily said ten incoming dropships. Still searching for them._

The damn chip may not have been in her head anymore, and while she didn't consciously remember being plugged into the psionic network, some part of her did. So one by one she connected to each of her people, while continuing her mental search for their enemies.

It was when she'd spiraled out as far as she was comfortable with that she saw the incoming ships. They'd spread out so that they were encircling the area, but for some reason they weren't firing on the town like they had with Haven Alpha 1-7.

Then she saw what was dropping from each ship and mentally swallowed. Keeping her fear to herself, she informed her people. _Chryssalids are on the approach._ Do not _engage in melee._

The general consensus boiled down to _fuck_.

The insectile creatures looked around, mandibles clattered as they seemed to chitter at one another, their clawed "hands" waving about as their bladed legs stamped. Her mental eyes widened in horror as the things all dove into the ground, disappearing from sight. She shouted out a warning about them burrowing.

All she got in return was grim determination and a sense of readiness from her people.

Seeing that it looked like the ships were about to make their attack run, she announced over the connection to her squads, _I'm going to try something and may not be able to maintain the link._

Flashbang, Prophet and Varzar all silently offered their energy to support her instead. Grateful, she took the boost to reach out and grab the mind of one of the pilots. It was almost frighteningly easy to crush its will in her mental fist. Once it was hers, she had it fire on one of the other ships.

It was far too easy to make her victim ignore the furious screams of its compatriots.

While she was in its mind, she took the opportunity to rummage through its mind to see what she could learn and saw that they didn't know that XCOM was present. They were there for someone else. A face floated before her mind's eye and she had to suppress a mental growl. They were after Vahlen too.

When she couldn't find any other useful information, she returned her full attention to the battle. The target went down in flames before the other ships reacted. A second was badly damaged before three undamaged ships converged on her captive's. She slipped out of its mind just before it died to a muton's blast. For the briefest moment her mind froze at the sight of one of her personal demons. Remembering the urgency of the situation, she shook it off.

Another trooper took the controls as her mind completely withdrew, but it was too late. That ship went down in flames as well.

After a quick sweep to get an idea of numbers, she fell back to a more comfortable range, letting go of the energy from the other three psi-operatives with a quick burst of thanks.

Considering the number of enemies and allies involved, Athena wondered if she was going to be able to coordinate them like this. She was already starting to feel somewhat drained. She didn't regret the havoc she caused among the ADVENT ships. There were fewer enemies to deal with and it seemed like they weren't firing on the town.

Well worth the energy expenditure in her opinion.

She'd just begun to issue further orders when a sharp poke in her shoulder got her attention.

Trying to maintain her concentration, she cracked open an eye to see Shieldmaiden bending over. The soldier nodded then backed up a bit. "Jamming ended, Chief wants to let you know she's got the drones in the air."

That meant she could release the link. Which she did after sending a quick message. All except for Central of course. Shieldmaiden gave her a hand up. "Better, Athena?"

"Thanks. Yes, I'm not sure how long I could have kept that up."

There was a slight shrug, but it wasn't dismissive. "Well, now we know we have a backup if something like that happens again."

She nodded in return as they both moved up to the edge of the roof to scan for incoming. She tapped her comms. "Good work, Chief."

Lily replied. _"Wish I could take credit for that, but when that one dropship went down so did the jamming. Now that we have the drones in the area it shouldn't affect you again."_

"Thanks." She checked her tablet and nodded a little at display showing where their enemies were making their approach. Except for the chryssalids of course. Trying to ignore the slowly growing ache behind her eyes, she contacted Bird dog. "You're still good with liaising with the locals?"

" _Sure thing, boss."_

"Make sure they understand what it means with the chryssalids. I don't know what other changes they've made besides being able to burrow."

She _really_ didn't want to deal with any zombies today. Or ever if she was going to be honest with herself.

" _Got ya covered, Athena."_

Tygan came on the line. _"So I do understand correctly, they never burrowed before this?"_

Central answered. _"That's correct. Let's hope they don't turn anyone into zombies."_

" _You're serious. I thought that was just a myth cooked up by the troops."_

"I wish," she replied at the same time as Central. Athena smiled slightly to herself.

The scientist fell silent as if to think that over.

With the way her head was throbbing from pushing herself too much, Athena didn't dare try to do anymore psionic scouting for the burrowed monsters. It made her wary that the alien troops were taking so long to arrive. Though it was possible that they were unsure of what was waiting for them.

Not wanting to heap all of the duties on Bird dog, she contacted one of the newest recruits, "Naidoo, can you scan for those burrowed chryssalids?"

The woman answered. _"Working on it, ma'am."_

She changed her comms to address both squads. "As a low priority, keep an eye out for Vahlen. They have confirmation she's in the area."

There were quiet confirmations as her people finished readying the area for the incoming hostiles.

" _Oh fu-"_ Varzar's shout got cut off. There was a burst of gunfire. Her display shifted to show that one of the chryssalids had popped up and attacked the trooper. Odd, it seemed that the creature didn't try to implant the psi-operative like she was used to seeing, only stab her. The townspeople that were on guard stared down in horror at the corpse that was leaking an odd colored fluid.

"Varzar, beside the injury, you don't feel any odd burning sensations?"

" _Nope, bosslady. Why?"_

"They usually have some means of poisoning a victim to carry an egg."

" _Ew. I guess going the route to resist shit like that was a good idea then."_

" _You have_ got _to teach me that,"_ Flashbang said.

"Enough chatter. We can discuss this later. Can you keep going, Varzar?"

" _Absolutely!"_

She shook her head at the young woman's unbridled enthusiasm. She was fairly certain she wasn't that energetic at that age.

Another chryssalid popped up among a group of civilians and eviscerated one before anyone could react. It chittered as it seemed to weave its way through the poorly directed hail of bullets to dive back into the ground.

A cocoon swelled up from the corpse causing it to rapidly dwindle into skeletal remains as the parasite, or parasites god help them, grew. Of course they stood around gaping at it.

It was behavior she remembered from the invasion all too well and couldn't believe they were acting that way now, when these people clearly knew better. Or should considering their distrust of ADVENT.

"Someone get those idiots out of there, and eliminate that cocoon before it spawns whatever is growing in there."

Technically she was a civilian too, but Athena liked to think she was smart enough to avoid being too close to something like that thing. Apparently no one remembered the tropes from horror movies. Thankfully Jen Pense, one of the grenadiers, was able to shred it with her main gun and setting it on fire.

Judging by the grimaces and the way people were covering their noses and mouths, the oily black smoke had a horrible smell to it.

Naidoo said over the comms. _"Sorry, Athena. My scans can't pick them when they're underground."_

Of course it would work that way. "Not your fault. Just stay focused on the incoming forces."

Then there was no time for anything else as the aforementioned enemies arrived on the scene causing her to get wrapped up in directing her forces. Which included trying not to pull out her hair as the idiot civilians started running around like, well, idiots.

They kept running into lines of fire, both "friendly" and not so friendly without actually helping anything. She growled over the comms. "Tell Gutierrez to get his people to get the _fuck_ out of here!"

She was pleased to see them starting to withdraw as soon as her order was given to the Resistance leader. Probably because he'd come to the same conclusion.

Unfortunately, their withdrawal was as disorganized as their "attacks" so more were lost before there were no more civilians on the field. By then she wasn't able to really pay attention to the causalities since Menace 1-5 had gotten embroiled in the fray.

Her heart almost stopped when the first muton loomed over her. For a moment her mind flashed back to that awful day just a few months ago. A _lifetime_ ago. But the feel of her gun in her hand and the weight of the armor on her frame, reminded her that things were very different.

It was incredibly satisfactory to see its head vanish in a spray of ichor from the blast from her shotgun.

When the gun needed to be recharged, she let it fall to her side on its sling and drew her sword rather than take the time to reload. She needed the feel of the blade of her weapon cutting open her enemies rather than shooting them from a distance.

Shieldmaiden fought at her side, eventually down to her sword for the same reason as Athena. When the fighting died down in their sector they tried to catch their breath and reload their guns, Shieldmaiden commented. "Seems like an awful lot of troops for just one person."

"No way of knowing if she cooked up any new and unpleasant surprises."

The ranger grimaced at the thought, then looked around with a frown. "No sign of any Faceless so far."

Which were the best means for ADVENT to get any details on any of the Resistance cells. The scanners to pick them up were starting to be used, but there were a good number that didn't feel it was right to violate people's privacy. From the way Gutierrez had talked, this town had that mindset. Normally Athena would agree about respecting privacy, but she didn't want to take any chances with XCOM being infiltrated and the scanner just made sure the person was human. It didn't scan thoughts.

"Yeah. The other psi-operatives are keeping feelers out, just in case. Besides Bird dog and Naidoo keeping their scanners going. Which is all we can do."

As they talked, she kept an eye on her tablet to see how the others were doing and saw Pense gun down yet another chryssalid. The grenadier laughed. _"Third one of those fuckers! I am the Queen of the Bug Hunters!"_

She ran a hand over her mouth trying not to laugh and had a feeling she knew what callsign the woman was going to end up with. In the distance she saw a lance of crimson light take down an officer. One of the snipers was doing good work. She itched to be in Mission Control to properly direct everything, but they were holding their own so far. Since it seemed like their area was still clear, she took the opportunity to gulp down an energy drink. Thankfully the headache started to subside.

Prophet joined them, looking around with a slight frown.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Just that it feels like the eye of a hurricane."

Over the comms she heard Pense give a whoop as she got the last of the known chryssalids, then Defcon reporting she'd mopped up the last of the mutons in her area. One by one the others reported their sectors clear of enemy combatants.

There still wasn't any sign of a Faceless and that was more than a little worrisome. Then the casualty reports started to roll in. Varzar was the only one to get mauled by a chryssalid and fortunately there wasn't anything growing in her, so whatever ability the young woman developed to resist poison was an excellent idea. There were multiple people sporting various gunshot wounds and plasma burns, but no one that was in the critical shape that Brandt was still in.

Unfortunately, there were a good number of dead civilians, including Harrison the Cowboy.

Gutierrez himself was fine, just a few scrapes. The part of the town where the fighting had taken place looked like it needed a lot of work to be usable again.

The Resistance cell leader slowly walked up to her and looked around with a weary sigh. "Always knew we had it too good here."

"I am sorry, if I'd thought it would have worked, I would've done what I could to lure them away."

He shook his head. "Not your fault, Commander. Always figured we were on borrowed time. Always planned for something like this after we heard how they've been hitting small towns over the years."

 _RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!_

She was already moving before Central's call for assistance came through, Shieldmaiden matching her step for step. While she wasn't sure about what they were racing towards, she had a good idea that it was going to be _ugly_.


	44. Chapter 44

_**March 28, 2035**_

 _ **13:23 Central Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Sargent, Texas**_

It had been one thing to see the monstrous muton in Vahlen's hologram.

It was quite another to see the thing in the flesh.

The Berserker Queen, as the immense mountain of alien flesh was called in Vahlen's notes, defied any words Athena could come up with describe it. Bad enough it was twice the size of any muton she'd seen before, but there was some sort of spiked helmet over the eyes of the beast and what looked like meat tenderizers on its wrists with hoses leading to tanks on the back containing some sort of virulent yellow liquid.

Athena truly hoped the hardware was something the aliens had done and not Vahlen as she and Shieldmaiden skidded to a halt before the creature. From the corner of her eye, she could see other soldiers slowly advancing on the alien in the attempt to circle it.

The heavy head swung back and forth before it lunged to the side to sending Bird dog flying with an almost negligent backhanded blow.

At Athena's signal the rest of the troops opened fire on the berserker, but the lasers splashed off its hide only doing some minor damage to the hide. It bellowed in rage, then slammed its fists into the ground, generating a shockwave that knocked half of the soldiers off their feet.

Flashbang, somehow keeping to her feet when those around her were still floundering on the ground, sent a blast of electricity at the creature, but like the lasers the energy just splashed off the thick hide.

"Oh, that's not good," the blond psi-operative muttered as she ran for cover.

Since it seemed like energy attacks weren't working on the thing, Athena telekinetically grabbed the nearest heavy object, a motorcycle, and slammed it into the beast's side. It fell to the ground with a surprised bellow, but quickly leapt back to its feet.

With a mental command to Shieldmaiden to step to the side and wait for a good opportunity to strike, Athena stepped out into the center of the road. The massive head swiveled in her direction.

Central yelled over the comms. _"What the hell do you think you're doing, Vanessa?"_

Walling out his anger and fear for her that rose up in the back of her mind, Athena calmly replied _._ "What needs to be done."

Then she yelled at the monster. "Get me if you can, bitch!"

The creature screamed and charged at her. While she was decent with a shotgun and passable with a pistol, where Athena truly shined in a fight was melee combat. She wasn't graceful by any stretch of the imagination, but she was fast on her feet and she could hit hard. Which was what she needed if she was going to have any hope of dealing with the brute.

She just wished she had something a little bigger than the sword she had. Still, it was better than trying to use her fists.

With another bellow the creature charged her. It smashed through her telekinetic barrier as if it didn't exist. Athena just barely dove out of the way. As she did, three thoughts flashed through her mind.

The thing was stupidly fast for its size.

How the hell did she end up tanking something in real life that looked like it stepped out of one of her video games?

The final, brutal, thought was that Vahlen was going to pay dearly for this shit.

Then there was no time to think as the monster bore down on her. Athena managed to get a slice in along an arm as she spun out of the way, but it felt like she was fighting with a toothpick for all the good the sword seemed to be doing. However there was a massive bruise along the ribs where she'd smashed the motorcycle into the thing and it seemed to be favoring that side.

Well then, that helped plan her course of attack as she dodged yet another blow from the berserker.

Then the thing froze as from its rear came the sound of shattering glass followed by gurgling of liquid spilling out. It screamed and whirled around, slamming its fists into the ground, sending Shieldmaiden sprawling. The soldier used the moment to tumble further away from the mountain of muscle.

One of the tanks on the creature's back had been shattered by the attack, giving Athena an idea. She hurled her sword forward, sped along by her telekinesis and not just her physical strength. Before the weapon could get stuck in the berserker, she pulled it back to her.

Defcon shouted over the comms. _"Get down, Athena!"_

She flung herself to the side as a rocket screamed over her head to slam into the exposed back of the alien.

It wailed in agony and ran towards Athena. Probably because she was the closest target it saw.

There was another yell, this time from Pense. _"Stay down!"_

Seeing the massive thing pounding toward her, Athena couldn't stay where she was and tried to scuttle into a nearby alley. Except she misjudged and one of its fists connected, sending her flying into and _through_ a wall of a nearby building.

All she could do was lay in the dust covered ruins of someone's living room and wheeze. From a very far distance away she could hear yelling over the comms, but she needed a moment for her head to stop spinning.

There was another whistling shriek followed by a loud boom that sounded far too close, even with her ears buzzing like they were.

The rest of the wall disintegrated, showering her with more debris and in the hole was the Berserker Queen. It looked the worse for wear and breathing raggedly, but unfortunately for Athena, still full of fight.

Rather muzzily she thought she might want to reassign some of her talents out of taunt.

Seeing the way the helmet was broken, revealing one insane eye, she expected the thing to attempt to flee the way the viper had, but it appeared to be pissed off enough to continue its pursuit of her.

It voiced a ragged snarl and slowly advanced on her, hands spread out to grab her.

Unfortunately for the monster, while her body wasn't up to moving all that quickly, her brain kicked into high gear at the threat, and she was in a room full of ammo. Silently apologizing to the absent homeowner, she mentally seized on nearby furniture and began flinging it at the monster. Among the various odds and ends that she used as a distraction was her true attack. A nicely sturdy metal coatrack that she thrust forward like a spear.

It went through the eye and into the brain.

The creature toppled forward, driving the rack even further in.

Athena let herself go boneless for the moment while she let the fear she'd been suppressing wash over and through her. She couldn't believe what she'd just done, or that she brushed off John like she had. The truth was, the only ones who had a remote chance at stopping the thing were Shieldmaiden and her. With the thing largely immune to energy attacks, there weren't many other choices. She could have sworn that Defcon and Pense used their rockets and grenades already, otherwise she would've called them in first.

A scrambling sound drew her attention and she lifted her head up to see Shieldmaiden climbing over the dead alien. "You okay, bosslady?"

She sat up with a groan, everywhere hurt, though she could already feel her body rebuilding itself. It was an uncomfortable feeling. "I'll live."

With the soldier's help, she levered herself to her feet, trying to ignore the snapping, crackling and popping sounds her back made in the process. The two women stared at the dead monster. Shieldmaiden shook her head. "I just don't get it. Why'd the doctor make this thing?"

"Because she could."

The other woman frowned and shook her head.

"C'mon, Shield, let's get out of here and signal the salvage crews."

"Yeah, I bet Doc Tygan can't wait to get his hands on this one."

Remembering his reaction to the viper, Athena wasn't so sure she'd put it that way, but didn't say anything as she made her way out of the ruined house.

 _Van!_

John's cut off shout had her ignoring her body's aches and running as fast as she could in his direction. Despite how fast she was, she couldn't compare to an ADVENT dropship as it took off.

She froze when she couldn't feel John's mind, but helplessly called out to him anyway. Iminathi Naidoo, Menace 2-1's combat hacker, a tall woman that towered over even Athena and who seemed to be carved out of ebony, approached her. "I am sorry, Commander. While we were trying to deal with that berserker, two sectoids came up from our rear. They couldn't mind control Central, but they got Bird dog."

Van closed her eyes for a moment to try to compose herself, then she reopened them and grimly asked, "Where's his body?"

Naidoo looked startled. "Bird dog didn't kill him, just knocked him out and grabbed him, then left with the sectoids. I shot at the one controlling him, but the hold didn't break."

Thank god he was still alive, but in the hands of their enemies. That was incredibly bad on so many levels. She quickly skimmed the other woman's mind and found that she was telling the truth. The three of them had been away from the rest of the troops trying to assist the evacuating civilians while Vahlen's monster was being dealt with.

"All right." She turned to Shieldmaiden who was watching her with worried eyes. "Round up the others, we're going to have to leave the town to handle its own matters while we get our people back."

"Yes, Commander. Let's go Naidoo."

She stood alone for a moment, trying to keep control over her roiling thoughts. Of course they'd recognize John and as the aliens had proven in the past, they weren't afraid to take prisoners if they thought the people would be useful for some reason.

It scared the crap out of her at the thought of what they'd do to her people, especially John.

When she felt Cyber approach with an unfamiliar mind in tow, she turned around and frowned at the fact he was pushing a woman along in front of him. There was a bag over her head and her hands bound behind her.

"What's the meaning of this, Cyber?"

"Saw her scuttling around during the fight, managed to knock her out long enough to capture her. Figured you'd want a long chat with her."

He knocked the woman to her knees and pulled the hood off. Van sucked in her breath in surprise, then it out quickly. "Cover her back up, I want this chat to be in the privacy of the Avenger."

The combat medic nodded, pulled the hood back over the gagged woman's head and walked away.

Time had been far kinder to Moira Vahlen than it had been to John Bradford, but unlike John, Vanessa had no intentions of being anywhere near remotely kind to Vahlen.

Oh yes, they were in for a very long chat and there was going to be plenty of time for it while they hunted down where John and Bird Dog were taken.


	45. Chapter 45

_**March 28, 2035**_

 _ **16:30 Central Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Mexican countryside**_

Vanessa hadn't been able to get to Vahlen as soon as she would have liked, but her duties to her people were more important. Then she had to see to her own needs before she drove herself into the ground.

So a couple of hours had gone by before she was ready to deal with the scientist. By then she realized they weren't going to have a long talk. It was going to very short and likely one sided. Her anger hadn't dimmed, if anything, it had grown into something terrible.

Part of her anger stemmed from her fear for John, but not all of it.

Most of it was the damn games the doctor had played.

She'd never had tolerance for that before her life became something weird and unrecognizable, she had even less tolerance for things like that now.

Because the Avenger didn't have a proper brig, the doctor was being kept in a small storage area. There was just enough room for a cot, a small side table and a camp toilet. Lily had set up a force field so that they could see one another. They regarded one another, Vahlen with amazement and Vanessa with a stony anger.

Vahlen spoke first in a whisper. "Van… I can scarcely believe it. You're, you're alive and you look like…"

"Twenty years hasn't gone by?" she asked coldly. It looked like there was going to be a bit of a chat after all. "And you no longer have the right to call me by name. Especially that one."

"I…" She deflated with a sigh. "Yes, Commander."

"Good. This is how it's going to be. Once I've retrieved my people from ADVENT, I'm depositing you with Valley to let him do with you as he wants. Only there won't be any more experimentation in your future as long as I have a say."

The chin went up in the defiance that Van expected. "I don't see how you can do that. Commander."

An evil smile curled her lips. "Let me show you."

Vanessa could see the cerulean light of her power light up the area around her, despite her best efforts to suppress the effect, as she grabbed the doctor's mind. Unlike what she did to the ADVENT trooper, she kept her touch delicate because she didn't want to crush the doctor. She just wanted to keep the doctor from doing any more harm.

While she did her work, she saw in Vahlen's head that the reason why she never said anything about Vanessa's abilities, or potential, had been because she didn't think XCOM could afford to have Vanessa out of commission to do the testing and activation.

If she weren't so angry, she might have appreciated that thought, but all she could think was how dare the woman not give her the option to make an informed decision?

Vahlen stared at her in horror when she was done. "Wh-what have you done?"

"Locked your mind so that your knowledge is still available, but you can't do anymore experiments. Or even suggest to anyone a course of action. No more horrors by your hand, Doctor."

The scientist staggered back and collapsed on the edge of the cot. "Such a drastic action doesn't seem like you, Commander."

Right then and there, Vanessa desperately wanted to make Vahlen suffer like she had. Like Brandt still was due to the horrible injuries sustained from the viper. Like all of the victims of the aliens who had been subjected to terrible experiments before being rendered into their component parts.

"You weren't abducted by our enemies for them to experiment on and use against our people for twenty years. Maybe, just maybe, if you'd told me about this from the beginning, none of us would be here, because I would've known what the psionic attack on HQ was when it started!"

The outburst drained most of the rage turning it into something easier to control, letting Van's better nature to come back to the fore. She sighed and ran her hands over her face and hair. "Obviously, I'm aware it's not entirely your fault, but…"

The other woman sighed and dropped her head into her hands. "I know, but I still had a part to play. For what it's worth, I have come to regret a lot of things." She heaved a heavy sigh and looked up at Van. "Mostly not staying in contact with Bradford." Vahlen hesitated again. "That you weren't around to remind me of the ethics involved with research."

Tucker said to her over her comms, saving her from having to continue the conversation. _"Commander, Valley is on the line for you."_

"Thank you." She turned her attention back to Vahlen. "This will have to continue later."

She strode away before the doctor had the chance to reply.

Jane fell in beside her from where she'd been lounging while Van had her chat with the doctor, she easily matched her swift pace. "You went a lot easier on her than I expected."

Van rolled her shoulders and blew out her breath. "She was once a valued member of XCOM and still has a lot of knowledge about their biology, I couldn't just kill her out of hand."

"Are you sure Valley is the best person to hold her? He was pretty upset about the experiments."

"He's the only one I know who has the appropriate holding facilities and won't give in to her blandishments."

Once they arrived at her quarters, she waved Jane in with her. "All right, Mr. Tucker. Put Valley through."

The granite faced man appeared on the main display. _"Van, Ms. Kelly. I don't know if this has to do with your situation, but we have reports of one of their saucers heading toward a facility not far from headquarters. We thought the place was deserted, but apparently not."_

"Thanks, Valley. Send what you have and we'll see if that's what we're looking for."

" _Sending now. Anything else?"_

"Now that you mention it. Yes. I have a prisoner I need you to secure for an indefinite period of time."

He stared at her. _"Before I agree. Who is it?"_

"Vahlen."

" _Fuck! You're shitting me. You want my people to hold a mad scientist?"_

"She won't be able to perform any experiments, or talk anyone into doing them for her."

His mouth opened and closed a few times. _"You know what? I don't want to know what you did to her. Fine. We'll take her. If she causes any trouble, I'm putting her outside without a coat."_

"Duly noted."

" _Talk to you later. Valley out."_ The transmission abruptly shut off.

Jane shook her head as Van messaged Lily to start searching for details in the Shadow Chamber. Once done, she turned her attention to Jane. "So how are you holding up?"

The ranger gave her a one shoulder shrug. "As well as can be expected. You still can't locate them yourself?"

"Unfortunately, no. I can tell they're still alive, but I can't see them otherwise. Whatever the aliens are doing, it's blocking most of my abilities."

"Figures."

Tucker spoke over the intercom. "Commander, there's an urgent transmission coming in."

If the Spokesman thought he could get her to do something else rather than get her people back, he had another think coming. She'd notified him of the situation earlier that day in the hopes that he might hear something in time to help them. "Put it through."

The familiar backlit image came up on the screen. _"Commander."_

"Mister Spokesman. I take it this is about the current situation?"

" _It is. Given the not inconsiderable number of contacts you've made among the Resistance, you have probably been already notified of this, but I have confirmation of the location that your people have been taken to."_

"I never turn down any kind of intel, you know that."

The faceless figured nodded and a file started to upload to her. _"Indeed. Not only does this file contain the location of the facility, it also has what details I could get on the security."_

That was far more than she had hoped. "Thank you, that will help a lot."

" _Of course, Commander. Good hunting."_

She routed the information to Lily to correlate with the Shadow Chamber as soon as the transmission ended. "I didn't expect him to come through like that."

Jane gave her a fierce smile. "Looks like our odds have improved."

"Yes. Go round up the others, I'm going to meet with the Chief to find out what she has for us."

Before she left, Van paused to reach out to John. _Hold on my knight, we're on our way._

Was that a vague murmur of acknowledgement in return? Or just her imagination?


	46. Chapter 46

_Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, folks. This was a brutal chapter to write._

 _ **March 29, 2035**_

 _ **03:00 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Russian Countryside**_

Fear more than fury thrummed through Athena's veins, though she made damn sure to keep that to herself as she shouted over the sound of the skyranger's engines. "We all know the deal. ADVENT has Central and Bird Dog. We're going to get them back. We are looking at a high security facility, so be prepared for stiff opposition."

She tapped her tablet to display what details they had on the monitor she was standing next to so that they could easily see the information before sending it to their tablets. "Obviously our primary objective is rescuing Bird dog and Central. If there are any other prisoners we'll try to get them out also."

There were murmurs and nods of acceptance. She gave a slight grin to Defcon and Pense the "Bug Queen". "Then we blow the place to hell."

All of the soldiers cheered that. Between the Blacksite and what was now being called the Forge Facility, not to mention other missions, they'd seen enough to know that there were going to be horrors at this location.

"One final thing, while we're there, make sure you keep your helmets with the mindshields on at all times. It might be just sectoids, but we don't know what else might be there. That includes you Flashbang and Prophet."

The two psionics nodded their understanding.

Athena left them to their pre-battle chatter while trying to maintain her own calm. Once again she found herself praying, not to any specific deity, but maybe to the universe in general that they were getting to their people in time.

"You okay, Boss?" Shieldmaiden asked her just loud enough for Athena to hear her, but no one else.

"I look that bad?"

"Bad? Not exactly. You look like you're gonna lose your shit on someone or something soon though."

A humorless smile made the corners of her mouth quirk up slightly. "I can keep it together. Now if I stayed behind on the Avenger…"

"Yeah. That would've been bad. The crew in Mission Control would probably quit in en masse."

"If they didn't try to stuff me into a closet first."

There was a quiet laugh from the ranger before she went off to do one final gear check on the troops, leaving Athena to her thoughts. Once again she reached out for John's mind, hoping this time she could get through. Even though she didn't know Bird dog anywhere near as well, she tried to reach out to him as well.

For just the briefest moment she was able to slip through the defenses to touch John's mind. All she could pick up from him was the sense of warning, but nothing concrete. Then they were cut off again.

She tried very hard not to think about the utter absence of Bird dog.

"Any luck?" Prophet asked softly. Of course he and Flashbang would have picked up her attempt.

"Not much, just the briefest touch with Central, but nothing useful."

Flashbang shook her head slightly. "Better than what we could do together."

Athena rubbed the back of her head. "I do have some advantage with my relationship with Central."

The two psi-operatives exchanged looks, but didn't say anything else and she was too keyed up to try to find out what they were thinking about.

Thankfully the rest of the flight went by in "silence" letting her think and trying to feel for both of her missing people.

The drop went by in a blur, she wasn't even aware of the usual rush of wind on her face or tugging on her armor. She was only dimly aware of her boots making contact with the ground. She was just aware enough to issue orders for Naidoo to run a scan for hostiles, then to make sure the extended squad was organized.

No, her mind was absorbed in defending itself from the miasma of horror and despair. Had been from the moment Firebrand came into the area. A glance at Prophet and Flashbang proved that they were even more distressed than Athena.

Keeping her voice low, she ask, "Are you two going to be able to handle this?"

Prophet replied tensely. "We're going to have to be."

A frowning Cyber came up, stared at the three psionics, scanned them with his gremlin and asked, "What's going on? Your vitals are all over the place."

Flashbang answered for the three of them. "This place feels like a pit of despair."

He stared at the three of them, then looked around at the rest of the squad who waited patiently, but kept most of their attention for any hostile forces. "I'm not feeling anything, don't think the rest are getting anything…"

"We need to get moving," Athena said more than a little pointedly.

They moved out, though with less caution than usual. All of their missions had a sense of urgency to them, but that night it seemed they all had a voice whispering to _hurry hurry hurry_.

It should have made them reckless and prone to mistakes. Instead it seemed to make them sharper.

The squad split into two to cover more ground. Though the few patrols they encountered were swarmed quickly and quietly, there should still have been an alarm, but the night remained silent.

Except for the pressure Athena felt in her head and confirmed with the other two that they felt it as well. So clearly there was no need for an audible alarm when there was a psionic one going off.

Maybe more than just an alarm, but so far the pressure brought to bear hadn't done anything.

Just like the patrols they dealt with were token resistance. She wasn't sure if It was the aliens trying to build up a false sense of security, or something else. Either way, encountering just three patrols of three troopers, no officers, no mechs, no aliens, was worrisome.

" _This is too easy, Boss,"_ Defcon commented over the comms.

"I know, just stay alert for when the real opposition starts."

There weren't even any active turrets at the top of the building once they got there.

Prophet made an annoyed sound. "They're being awfully blatant about this."

Slinger grunted. The sniper had moved up with the rest of the squad since she didn't have a good position to support from a distance. "They normally don't set traps. Too busy kickin' down doors."

The psionic pressure was getting worse, it felt like something was trying to communicate with her, but she couldn't tell through the thickening fog of misery. Over the comms she asked, "Naidoo, do your scans show anything?"

" _Negative, Athena. There's something jamming my gremlin."_

Shieldmaiden spoke right after the hacker. _"There's no windows, not even skylights, to see what's in there."_

Athena thought about that for a very long moment. "Prophet, I'm going to do something potentially very stupid."

"I'll act as an anchor for you. Not sure how much I can help if they're able to capture your mind."

"I know."

Defcon hefted her gun. "Do your thing, Athena. We've got your back."

She knelt behind the fenced barrier outside of the building, closed her eyes and let her mind slip free of her body. Which is when the source of the despair manifested itself.

Numerous human minds surrounded hers, but they were far from hostile. They swept around her, begging and pleading.

 _End this. Free us._ Kill us.

Confused, she cried out to them. _I don't understand!_

They didn't say anything in response, instead they showed her. Tanks full of the too familiar glowing green liquid held tortured human bodies. Their minds connected in a painfully twisted version of the alien psionic network, but separate from it.

The sight that caught her attention were the two naked, male bodies bound to tables in the lab at the heart of the facility.

She recognized them both, and tried to reach out to their minds, but was blocked. She couldn't see John's face, it was concealed by some sort of caul that looked to be made of lavender colored organic material. The other was a badly beaten Bird dog.

Next to the hacker's table stood a distinguished caucasian man with a lab coat over a finely tailored suit. The scientist calmly injected something into the solder causing the man to scream in agony.

 _Hold on, Bird dog, we're almost there!_

Bird dog's mouth twisted into a bitter mockery of a smile, revealing a mouth full of shattered teeth. He coughed, a sickening wet, ragged sound and blood began to flow from a corner of his mouth. "Commander'll make you pay. Asshole."

"I quite doubt that, young man. She may be a fine tactician and some skill at playing soldier, but that ragtag band outside has no hope of stopping what's here."

 _You._ She addressed those minds around her. _He's talking about you. Why are you helping us?_

 _Yes. Us. We help our own, Vanessa McKenzie. Will you end this?_

Horror and fear crystallized into a pure, incandescent rage. All she could get out was one word. _Yes._

They abruptly let her mind go and she fell back into body. The rage was nearly all consuming as she managed to keep her shit together enough to telepathically show the rest of the squads what she saw inside.

The anger and fear from the other two psi-operatives was almost a physical manifestation.

Unable to wait for the rest, the fury driving her in a way nothing else did, she drew her sword, since the gun wouldn't satisfy her need for blood, even as she smashed the fence with her telekinesis. Then leapt over the barrier to charge for the building. Athena didn't wait to see the response from the rest of the squad, and didn't hear Shieldmaiden's shouts over the comms to wait.

Around her swirled the minds of the tortured psionics, acting as a goad to her rage.

A pair of mutons were waiting for her at the door, but she didn't even slow at the sight of one of her greatest fears. She could almost see their attacks before they even made them, dodging the blasts of plasma fire with an unnatural grace.

With almost contemptable negligence, she eviscerated one with her blade, then blasted the other with pure psionic power leaving a haze of body fluids and small fragments of flesh hanging in the air.

The only way Athena registered the mech was the fact she bounced off of it. She easily evaded its grasping claws and shoved the blade of her sword into its internal circuitry, then twisted, sending another cascade of power through the weapon. The mech collapsed in a shower of sparks.

She casually ripped the sword out of the wreck and continued on her way.

When the codex appeared in front of her, she just smashed right through it. A flash of light flew over her shoulder and slammed into one of the sectoids accompanying it sent it into spasms that broke its back. A flare of crimson light from someone's laser rifle took out the second one.

Athena continued on her mad charge.

Tygan protested. _"Commander! We need the information they contain!"_

" _Don't bother, Doctor,"_ Shieldmaiden replied for her. Had Athena been in her right mind, she would've appreciated the other woman's concern, but there was that pounding need to kill driving her on. _"There's something that's got her and the other two psi-operatives worked up."_

The rest of the way went by in a blur of violence, shredded alien flesh and gallons of amber colored ichor splashed about. Athena was only dimly aware of the rest of the squad at her back. Yet she was just aware enough to maintain that tenuous connection so that she wouldn't harm her people.

She was keenly aware of her fellow psionics to either side of her as she arrived at the doors to the central portion of the building. At some point during the fighting she'd lost her helmet and her hair felt stiff and sticky from drying fluids. Her sword was no longer in shape to be used for anything, so she shoved it back into its sheath.

Athena readied her shotgun and thought to herself, click click, boom boom, assholes, before kicking in the doors.

The sight that greeted them gave her pause even in the swirling maelstrom of her anger and hate.

It was as she'd seen in her vision, a massive room, the walls lined with tanks, in the center on operating tables were Bird dog and Central. The distinguished man she'd seen straightened up from where he was bent over.

Fear filled his dark eyes which drew a cold, cruel smile from her and she started to advance on him. "This is going to be quick. I'm not even going to bother to ask your name or why you're doing this. There's always going to be some sick fuck like you that thinks they can justify their atrocities. No, what I'm expecting you to do is release my men, then give these poor souls the rest they deserve."

"And if I say no?"

Well, she had to give him some credit for guts. "You really don't want to say no."

His chin went up into the air with a sneer and remained silent.

The man's defiance turned her rage into something that could only be described as wrath that was biblical in nature which wiped away the faint smile leaving her expressionless.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Cyber arrived and hustled over to where the two men were being restrained and began to work on Bird dog. He called out. "Commander, I'm not sure about this thing on Central."

The sneer on the scientist's face grew. "And you never will."

That was the final straw for her and Athena seized the man by the throat with her telekinesis and raked mental talons through his mind to extract what she was looking for. Never taking her eyes off him, she said, "Flashbang, a low electrical current will kill the thing."

He writhed in the vain effort to get free, but her grip was adamantine. When she finally extracted what he did to Bird dog, she gave the details to Cyber's mind directly along with possible cures. The asshole, she still didn't bother to find out his name, had decided to include Bird dog in his sick experiments. The medic just nodded and began to root around in the lab for what he needed, roping in anyone available to help him find what he needed.

The thing on Central was meant to invade his mind and eventually break his will to serve the aliens. It pleased, but didn't surprise, her that Central had held out longer than had been expected. Clearly the man didn't understand the strength of will needed to keep XCOM going all these years.

She shook her head sharply, then barked over her comms. "Firebrand, I need you here as of last week."

" _Already on my way, Commander. Be there in two minutes."_

"Commander." The way Cyber said her title told her the news was bad. She dropped the now drooling husk of the scientist to the floor and ran over to the medic. The hound-like features seemed to droop even more and he slowly shook his head.

Athena sucked in her breath, then blew it out softly, trying to regain some measure of calm in the face of the _killuskilluskillus_ throbbing in the back of her head, but it was hard, so very hard. Quietly she asked, "Can you stabilize him enough for us to get him to the Avenger?"

"Did everything I can."

She closed her eyes and nodded. When she reopened them, she looked over at Shieldmaiden who came over. The ranger looked at her, then Cyber, then looked over at Bird dog. Her mouth tightened and she didn't say anything, just walked over to him to grip his hand. "Hey, Jimmie."

Jimmie replied weakly. Blood trickled out of corner of his mouth as he spoke. "Jane."

Grief ripped through her for a moment silencing the screams of the trapped psionics and she walked over to her two soldiers. A quick glance at John told her that the caul was gone, but he was still unconscious, before she turned her attention back to Jimmie and gripped his other hand.

Hating the feeling of helplessness, she did the only thing she could think of and extend a mental touch to stand between his mind and the pain. Oh god, the pain. It felt like he was falling apart at the seams.

That's when she realized he really was falling apart. More blood oozed out of the other corner of his mouth, and from his ear.

It wasn't what the bastard had intended, but it was the result. Now she was losing one of her best people and all she could do was hold his hand.

Jimmie coughed, a harsh racking sound, sending out a spray of blood and teeth. Now crimson rivulets started to run from his eyes. "Was. A. Good run."

Another hacking cough shook his body, his nose started to bleed and the hand in hers started feel strangely loose. Jane, acting as a woman with a dying friend rather than a soldier, ran her hand over his wild mane that was matted. Her glove came away red. Her voice was thick as she said, "Yeah, it was."

Despair mingled with fury. What was the point of all this power she had if she couldn't use it to save her people?

In silence the rest of Menace 1-5 gathered around the table. While none of them said anything, they didn't have to, their support and grief for the man was palpable.

Desperation made her mentally cry out to the psionics in the room for help. Their pain changed to grief on her part. There wasn't anything they could beyond take over the pain blocking for her.

Van couldn't quite hide that desperation as she said, "Just hold on, Jimmie. Firebrand is almost here. I'm sure Tygan can help you once we get you to the Avenger."

His mouth worked for a moment before he could get any words out, his voice sounded like it was coming through water. His eyes were just pits of flowing blood. "C-commander. A-a-a-thena. Honor, pleasure. To. Know. You."

She couldn't say anything in response, it took all of her will to keep from turning into a gibbering mess. Instead she just tightened her grip.

His head swiveled back to Jane. " _Kick their asses for me."_

Then there was an aching void where his mind had been. An even larger one in the room as the collective mind of the imprisoned psionics went with him. The now dead man's body expelled the last of the air in its lungs.

With the sound of wet cloth tearing his skin gave way in a rush of blood and other fluids, sending his bones clattering away. His hand fell into hers. His internal organs were left in a steaming pile which quickly began to dissolve. Even the bones started to break down.

John's raspy breathing was very loud in the room.

The pain, grief and anger from her troops was nearly overwhelming and she couldn't look any of them in the eyes.

By the time Firebrand landed, there was nothing left but foul smelling liquid that covered the table, the floor.

The soldiers' armor.

There wasn't anything that could be collected to take with them to give a proper burial.

Still not looking at them, she said quietly. "What I got from that monster was that this wasn't contagious, but we should decontaminate before leaving. Just in case. Tomorrow." She stopped, swallowed back the lump in her throat. "Tomorrow we'll give him a proper send off."

There were muted acknowledgements as they prepared to leave.

Rather than risk the possibility of contamination, she used her telekinesis to pick up John. Van knew that she'd pay for the extended use of her powers, but that could be dealt with later.

It didn't take long for them to clean up and evacuate to the skyranger.

As the plane flew off, the charges planted by Defcon and Bug Queen went off, sending Jimmie's remains, and those of the poor tortured souls that had been there for god knew how long, went up in a pillar of flame.

Somehow it didn't seem like enough.


	47. Chapter 47

_Author's note:_ _Once again I'm so very sorry for the delay, but once again 2016 proved that it was going to be a wretched jerk._

 _ **March 29, 2035**_

 _ **05:53 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Russian Countryside**_

"So how is he really doing, Doctor?" Van asked Tygan from where they were standing in his lab, outside of the small, isolated, observation area that had been set up for any unusual situation. Seeing John lying in the bed, hooked up to far too many monitors, made her feel ill.

Or maybe it was just everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours.

Tygan gave her one of those looks over his glasses. "Physically he's fine. Mentally…that's your department."

She rubbed her forehead in the vain effort to stave off the headache that was starting to form. "What are you suggesting?"

"I won't beat around the bush here, Vanessa. You're the strongest telepath we have. The other psi-operatives have incredible abilities themselves, but their telepathy is limited. Someone needs to check Bradford for any lingering influence."

How could she scan Bradford with the lingering taint of that monster's mind in hers? Or that pulsing rage that still seethed within her? It was difficult enough to keep the light link she did have. Van rubbed the back of her head as she tried to find the words to explain her reservations to Tygan.

He misunderstood her hesitation. "Not right now of course. You need to eat something and get some sleep yourself." He frowned at her. "Proper sleep in your bed and _not_ a chair by his bedside."

Even though his body was still, she could feel his mind slowly swimming towards wakefulness. She gave him a rueful smile. "Maybe later, John's starting to wake up."

Without giving him a chance to respond, she walked into the room. John's eyes flickered open just as she sat down at his bedside. Trying to suppress the memory of what Jimmy's dissolving hand felt like, she took his hand in both of hers since she didn't want to embarrass them and Tygan by kissing John with the doctor watching.

A faint smile flickered across his face and his tightened around hers. "Angel."

Feeling the warm, _solid_ , strength in his grip was reassuring. "Welcome back, my knight."

His dark brown eyes ranged over her face. "Bad?"

Van freed her right hand to run over his face. "You'll be all right. You just need some rest for now."

"Worley?"

She closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears.

There was a gust of breath before he said, "Damn."

Not quite able to keep from sniffling a little, she reopened her eyes and mutely nodded.

"You okay?"

"As well as can be expected."

He grunted. "That good, huh?" Then he sighed. "Got a huge favor to ask."

"Anything that's within my power."

"Need you to purge my mind."

Van was sure she wasn't hearing him correctly. "You want me to do _what_?"

"Purge my head, cleanse it. Whatever. Get this…feeling of filth out of it." He let go of her hand and struggled to sit up. Wordlessly, she got up to help him, then handed him a cup of water with a lid and straw, knowing from experience he was probably feeling dehydrated. There was a feeling of gratitude from him before he began to carefully sip.

"So just to make sure I'm understanding exactly what you want, you want me to scour through your mind to remove any possible contamination left by the…thing?"

"Yeah." John eyed her, she could feel his worry. "Know you're tired, but…"

"Sooner done the better you'll feel." Truthfully, she felt the same way and was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to sleep without the reassurance that he really was fine. "You know it's going to be horribly invasive, right? I might not be able to avoid seeing your most private thoughts and memories."

"Yep and you're the only one I trust to do that."

As much as she wanted to protest that she didn't feel right doing it, especially with how she felt tainted from destroying the scientist, Van knew she had to do it. She trusted the rest of her operatives with her mind, but wasn't sure she could just let them screw around with John's head like that. "All right. I just need a little time to prep."

He set the cup to the side, then took her hand in his and gently ran his thumb along her knuckles before raising it to kiss the back. "Thank you, Van. Know you're tired and grieving, but I'd feel better knowing I'm free of their influence."

"Remember who you're talking to?" God knew, he'd twitted her enough about her justifiable paranoia. Which was ironic considering his background in military intelligence.

He gave her a faint smile.

She glanced out the observation window where Tygan stood patiently waiting, scanning gear next to him. "Looks like you're in for your share of scans."

He just grunted. She shook her head, silly man. Looked like he was going to have to learn how unpleasant the in-depth scans were on his own. Van got to feet, leaned in to brush her lips against his cheek. "I'll be back soon."

"Love you, Vanessa McKenzie."

She smiled. "I love you too, John Bradford. Don't be afraid to change your mind, this is going to be really unpleasant."

"Pretty sure I've been through worse."

She shook her head again and left the isolation room. Tygan said fairly sternly. "You look like you're about to fall over. It won't kill him if you get some sleep."

"I won't be able to sleep until I've reassured us both that he's uncompromised."

The doctor sighed resignedly. "I figured that. Which is why I've contacted the other three psionics to assist you."

Concern for her people reignited her temper. "None of them are in any real shape to do this, especially Ms. Varzar."

"They're in better shape than you are. If you won't allow their assistance, I won't let you do this."

He crossed his arms and matched her glare for glare, silently daring her to countermand him. She scrubbed at her face. "Fine, fine. You win. I'll be back shortly."

Tygan eyed her warily. "Just what do you plan to do?"

"Knock back an energy drink or three, and get a psi amplifier."

His eyes widened. "You've been rather adamant about not using them. Something about having enough power on your own."

"I'm going to need the boost to make sure I do this properly." She arched her eyebrows. "No comments about the energy drinks?"

There was a disgusted sound. "I've learned what battles I can and cannot win with you."

That almost drew a smile. She said, "I'll leave John in your hands for now."

The walk to the armory gave her time to think about what she was going to do. That's when the shakes started to set in. She was going to be doing the psychic equivalent of exploratory brain surgery on the man she loved who was also her right and left hand in XCOM.

Except some quiet part of her was convinced it knew what it was doing.

Van paused for a moment to think about that. That quiet, confident part pointed out that she would be essentially unraveling his history to examine it for any flaws. After all, that was what she was good at. That seemed far too simplistic.

Worrying that there might be something even more wrong with her than before, she closed her eyes and focused her not inconsiderable mental abilities on herself. All seemed as it should, but she couldn't find the source of that confidence.

At least right away.

Then she realized it was stemming from the part of her memories that contained all those years spent in the aliens' psionic network. Van knew her mind had blocked that off to protect her sanity, but it seemed some of what she'd learned during that time was starting to slowly seep through.

Which apparently included knowledge about use of psionics.

A beep over her comms broke her out of her introspection. "Yes?"

Jay, the four psionics were on a first name basis now, said over the line. _"Vanessa, Kadi, Zori and I are in R &D. We brought an extra amp for you."_

"Thank you, Jay. I'll be there shortly." Once again she was enormously grateful for intelligent subordinates that acted on their own initiative.

The introspection would have to wait. She had a job to do.

Briskly reversing direction, she made her way to her quarters where gulped down more drinks than were possibly healthy for her, leaving her feeling somewhat jittery. But very much wide awake and ready to work.

Once she got down to the lab, most of the jitters had been burned off.

Tygan met her as she stepped through the door, his attitude more formal than usual, likely due to the presence of the psi-operatives. "Welcome back, Commander. For what it's worth, Central's scans came back normal. Though it left him a bit surlier than normal."

She could well imagine. It wasn't the scan itself that was bad, it was the questions meant to provoke different reactions for the scan to pick up. Since John had sat in on some of her sessions, she had a feeling that Tygan had a whole set designed just for him and not include any that he used on her. If his questions for John were like hers, well, she could see why he'd be surly.

"Right. You sure you're okay with us doing the procedure here?"

"Yes. The room is set up with emergency psionic shielding. So all four of you will have to be in there when it's activated."

Van nodded her thanks, then walked over to the three people waiting for her. She looked at Zoria. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"S'long as I don't have to do any kind of physical exertion, I'll be okay."

"All right. Any questions?" As she asked that, Van picked up the psi-amplifier they'd brought for her. Obviously, she'd seen all three use them for different things, but this was the first time she'd even held one. It had an uncomfortably familiar vibration to it, but she couldn't place what it was. Just that it made her skin crawl. Well, she'd just have to deal with it.

Movement to the side caught her attention momentarily. John stood near the window and frowned a little at the amplifier in her hand.

Jay cleared his throat nervously drawing her back to the others. "Are you sure this isn't a trap?"

Akadia didn't try to conceal the fact she was rolling her eyes at his question.

She snorted. "This whole god damn situation was a trap. Though in this case, I've already done a brief scan and his mind is the same. This is mainly to reassure us all that he's fine. Unless there's something you're picking up?"

He shook his head.

"The plan is for the three of you to act as anchors for me so I don't risk getting lost in Central's memories and to make sure I don't run out of energy as I do this. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long this will take."

"We're in better shape than you are, Commander," Akadia said matter-of-factly. "So we can do this as long as necessary."

"Then let's get going."

John was still in place when she entered the room first, his eyes flicked over the other three psi-operatives as they filed in and his mouth compressed into a thin line while the lines around his eyes deepened.

"It's not too late to change your mind," she told him.

His expression went stony. "I know, but it still needs to be done."

"Just making sure. You're going to want to lay down for this."

Van worried a little at the stiffness in his posture as he moved over to the bed. Not to mention the worry that was flowing out of his mind.

The four psionics sat down in the chairs around the bed. Without saying anything else, Van activated the amp. Not surprisingly, but still somewhat dismaying, the light it emitted was bright blue, but that soon vanished in the swirl of violet light from the other three.

As soon as the other three had linked with her, Van reached out to John's mind. Even if he was physically tense, his mind was as open and welcoming to her as ever.

Not to mention impatient. The foremost thought on his mind was: _Just get on with it already._

Keeping her faint smile to herself, she put him in a light trance to act a mental anesthetic. Any faint amusement she felt fell away as she cradled his mind with infinite care. Checking the connection to the other three was still solid for one last time, Van let go of all sense of her surroundings, even her own body.

It was less than a whisper of effort to create a psychic workshop, where she began to delicately lay out the components of John's mind, with neat labels to direct her on reassembly.

Then the true, grueling work began as she picked up the first fragment to let her power run through it.

 _A flash of thought, a sense of relief, which triggered a memory. The relief he felt when she woke up sane, aware and_ herself _after her rescue. He'd spent most of that time watching over her, hardly believing they'd finally found her._

 _The sense of relief triggered a flood of other memories, past missions that had gone well, not just in XCOM, but before that when he was in the Army serving in the hellholes that were Afghanistan and Iraq._

There were other, earlier, memories that were faded by time that she just let flow through her psychic sieve, trying not to pry, but at the same time make sure nothing was lurking within. A residue was left in the sieve, but nothing harmful. She purged it anyway, after making sure it didn't hold any stray thoughts, feelings or memories.

She set the cleansed fragment to the side, then picked up another.

 _Another flash. This time as he stood before the tank that held her. For the first time in years he prayed. Prayed that the intel was good. That if the Commander was in there she was still the person he'd known so long ago._

 _The joy he felt when he pulled the stasis suit out and confirmed that Vanessa McKenzie was indeed the occupant of the suit._

 _That memory lead to the time they first met at the original XCOM HQ. When he first laid eyes on her, he was stunned at how lovely she was. He'd thought her attractive from her official picture, but that hadn't had any sway on his choice of her as Commander. Then she smiled as she returned his greeting and he been left stunned by how dazzling that look was._

Surprise almost broke her concentration. Van remembered quite well how quiet he'd been for a moment after she thanked him for his welcome and had been afraid she'd offended him somehow. In fact she'd done anything but. Then there was the fact she almost didn't recognize herself through his eyes.

Van took a brief moment to shake off her shock, then continued on her way.

More memories flooded through, this time primarily before his time in the army. One was particularly strong.

 _It was his sixth birthday and his parents had unexpectedly thrown him the Transformers birthday party he'd wanted. And all of his best buds were there. It was one of the best days_ ever.

Van involuntarily smiled at that little boy's enthusiasm, the vividness of that memory taking her by surprise so she couldn't just run it through the sieve like she did the rest. There were more memories of his childhood leaving her keenly aware of the differences between them. His life wasn't perfect, but to her it was pretty damn idyllic: two parents who wanted and loved him, taught him how to be a good man, supported him when he needed it. Kicked him in the ass when he needed that.

She shook off her envy to regard the residue left over from the freshly cleansed fragment.

For a moment she puzzled over it. The…dross being left wasn't foreign, it was a part of him.

Maybe it was the effects time had on a person's mind?

Either way, the grey sludge had to go, she could tell it wasn't good for him.

She continued with the fragments, trying to filter the accompanying memories without being overwhelmed by his past. Until the final two. Exhaustion was starting to get the better of her and Van needed a quick breather before continuing on.

The second to last fragment of John's mind caused her to weep from what she found. It contained the majority of the twenty years after the fall of Earth to the aliens. There was so much pain, loss and grief. Intellectually the woman knew that time had been hell, but to actually see it was something else entirely.

One of the few bright spots for him was the certain knowledge that his Commander, his friend, the woman he'd cared for more than he should have, was still out there. Once he found her, they could finally win the war.

That certainty puzzled her and not for the first time.

A memory from one of the previous fragments came bubbling up, leaving her filled with horror.

John had realized after her psionics had been truly awakened and she had started linking to him on a regular basis that she really had previously linked to him all those years. It had been the source of his certainty about her. And he was okay with that. How?

Swallowing back her dismay, Van completed her check of that piece and mechanically destroyed the leftover dregs.

There was only one part left and it filled her with dread.

Every mind had a place for things sacred to it. It was the most private part of the personality and she didn't want to intrude. Not only was it private, it was also the core of his personality. She didn't want to take any risks with such a fundamental part of him.

Vanessa was tempted to let it go, put his mind back together and let him go, but he'd be forever troubled that something lingered there. John may not have been smart the way Tygan was, but he was a perceptive soul and he'd know that she didn't check everything.

Having gone through that kind of self-destructive questioning, she wasn't about to put him through that. Truthfully, she wouldn't put many through that. Even Vahlen.

With trembling hands, she took up the final piece tenderly, trying to brace herself for the onslaught.

Except there was no overwhelming gush.

This part was tidy and orderly. Really, she should have expected that given his personality.

Expelling a mental sigh of relief, she delicately combed through the core, then paused as something tugged at her mind.

It wasn't hostile, since the tug was coming from John himself. Curious, she allowed him to direct her to private corner of his mind. Shock rooted her in place at the sight of what was waiting for her.

A sunlit library of towering shelves full of ancient books that surrounded a table. Books were neatly stacked on the table at the elbow of the person seated at the table, reading an open book propped against another stack while writing notes in a notebook. It took her a moment to realize that it was an idealized version of herself that was at the table since the long curling hair certain wasn't hers.

No, the one time she let her hair grow out, she learned the hard way that it turned into a tangled mess that poofed out, rather than flowed.

Then the scene shifted.

Now she recognized herself. Dressed in her armor, shotgun in its sling at her side, the hilt of her sword peeking over one shoulder. She stood easily in the troop compartment of the skyranger, a fierce look in her eyes.

Then it shifted back to the library before shifting again to the skyranger.

In both scenes, she had wings.

As the scholar, they were soft, almost fluffy things. As the warrior, they were metallic, razor edged. As much a weapon as her gun and blade.

He really meant it when he called her his angel.

If she hadn't realized how she had influenced him while she was a captive, she would've thought it incredibly sweet.

Instead it just added to her horror.

Hastily she withdrew from his core while still making sure she didn't disturb anything.

There was no sludge from this part. For that she was grateful.

Quickly she put his mind back together. She studied it for a long moment to make sure everything was perfectly in place.

His mind gleamed before her.

Satisfied she'd done all she could, she released John and fled back into the dubious security of her own skull.

When she returned to reality and opened her physical eyes, she was almost physically assaulted by the fear in the room. The other three psionics stared her with terrified eyes set in pale faces. She glanced at John who appeared to be okay, but her heart stopped at the look in his dark eyes.

There was revulsion mixed in with the fear.

So she had trespassed after all.

Refusing to give into the urge to just flee the oppressive atmosphere, she turned off the amplifier then calmly said. "I'm leaving Central in your hands to double check my work besides whatever tests Doctor Tygan needs to do."

It took all of her willpower to keep her pace to a normal walk as she left, rather than running like she wanted to.

She just couldn't meet any of their eyes as she left the lab, ignoring Tygan as he called out to her.

When she was finally out in the corridor alone that she finally gave in to the urge to flee.

And wondered if her actions had broken the trust between her and her people.


	48. Chapter 48

_**April 2, 2035**_

 _ **16:33 Eastern Daylight Savings Time**_

 _ **Canadian Countryside**_

Heading toward Van's quarters, Bradford tried to wrap his mind around what might be going on with her for the past four days. He knew that a combination of grief, exhaustion and shock had something to do with it, but she'd never been one to isolate herself the way she had been. The few times she'd been out in public, she'd been remote to everyone, not just him, but he didn't get the impression she was keeping everyone out, but rather keeping herself walled away. Though her attitude wasn't personal to him, it was still painfully baffling.

Even the psionics couldn't get through to her because of how she walled herself off.

Of course, if Van hadn't come out of whatever was riding her, he was going to go pound on her door eventually, but Tygan had given him incentive to do that sooner than planned. While she wasn't neglecting her duties as Commander, the troops were worried about their Athena not training with them. Or being out and about checking up on things, or hanging out and chatting with people.

Even Valley had been concerned at how distant she was when they turned Vahlen over to his custody. Thankfully Ding and Kess weren't around to be hurt by how Van was rebuffing everyone.

Oh, hell, who was he kidding?

He desperately missed his fiancée. Not just because of the lack of sex, which, as a fully functional adult human male, was something he enjoyed and did miss. But mainly he missed having her hang out in Mission Control, her sarcastic comments about things, spending the end of the day with her where they could talk about the events of the day.

Where they even began to cautiously talk about their hopes for their personal futures.

And now she was walling herself off from everyone without even the flimsiest excuse?

But what had truly set him off was the research project she wanted Tygan and his entire team to work on as a priority, ignoring all of their other current projects.

So by the time he arrived at her quarters, he'd worked up a full on head of steam.

Though he was careful to keep that to himself. Not to mention the bait he was carrying or the tranquilizer in one of his pockets just in case the bait didn't work.

His temper wasn't helped by seeing Cyber kneeling on the floor just outside her quarters. He was frowning at the interior of the partially disassembled gremlin in front of him.

None of the soldiers felt the need to keep a watch on Van for some time. That they started it back up was worrisome. "Cyber."

The combat medic scrambled to his feet. "Central. Can I help you?"

"Yeah. Want to tell me what you're up to?"

"I _was_ keeping watch on the Commander." He gestured at the drone. "Until she did something to disable my gremlin. Thing is, it looks like it's in perfect condition, so it should be working."

"Take it that she didn't come out and physically do it?"

"No. There was a flash of light then a non-functional gremlin." The hound faced man gave him a hopeful look that came damn close to puppyish. "Don't suppose you can talk Athena into undoing whatever it was she did?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." That's when the medic eyeballed the small container in his hand, but didn't ask, even though curiosity filled his expression.

Since there wasn't anything to say, Central just nodded, then knocked on the door. When he wasn't answered right away, he checked the system and saw she was in her quarters, but it couldn't tell him what she was up to.

Just when Bradford was about to use his override to get in, the door opened. The first thing he saw was Van, seated at her desk looking pale and drawn with dark shadows under her eyes. He frowned a little to see that she was wearing a sweat shirt and pants with the temperature in the room warmer than he was used to from her. She was sick and didn't tell anyone?

Now truly worried, and more than a little angry, he demanded. "What the hell, Van?"

It really bothered him that he couldn't read her expression as she coolly said, "Central Officer Bradford. We'll talk once you put the shield on."

Getting called by his full title just served to piss him off even more since she'd never called him that, not even when the first started working together. But before he completely lost his shit, he looked down to see a mindshield sitting on a folding tray in front of him. Bradford sucked in a deep breath and let it out in explosive snort before walking around the tray and the couches before advancing on Van.

Screw keeping his temper in check, he was going to lose his shit and he was going to shake some sense into her.

She scrambled out of the chair and put one of the couches between them. The remoteness shattered as she stared at him with terrified eyes and her voice turned pleading. "Don't. I'm not safe. That's why you need the shield."

That brought him up short and he narrowed his eyes as he studied her. "What gives?"

A small corner of his mind noted that she had the latest version of Shen's stressball in her hands which didn't explode under the pressure of her white knuckled grip. So it looked like the engineer had finally succeeded in that department. Then all thought of that vanished when he saw the way her hands were shaking. Shoving back his anger, he asked as gently as he could. "Van?"

"Seeing what I did to you, Central, isn't that enough to convince you that I'm a danger?"

Suddenly the research project made a horrifying amount of sense. Trying to throttle his temper, because her insistence on using his title was adding fuel to the fire and he realized he needed to keep cool for this conversation, Bradford asked. "What makes you think you're a danger?"

Her face crumpled. "God dammit, John. I raped your mind. Twice. The first time for almost twenty years. Not to mention how I-I locked up Vahlen's mind." Van looked away before whispering. "Then there was that scientist…"

Bradford let his anger at her comment show. Raped his mind? What the ever living fuck? He practically growled his words. "First of all, you can't rape the willing. Secondly, what the hell makes you think you raped my mind?"

She flinched. "You yourself realized I'd been in some sort of contact with you, which is what made you realize I was alive all those years. I might have influenced you in other ways. Then I probed deeper than I should have when I was checking your mind."

With a sigh, he let go of his anger, it had no place here and it would just make things worse. "You didn't probe too deep at all. I meant it when I wanted you to thoroughly check. If you looked as deeply as I think, you'll see that was the only bright spot during my darkest days."

Van just stared at him. He had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't going to get very far standing like this. So he eased his way so he was standing in front of the couch, but still left room between then. Dark grey eyes watched him warily as he set the container down on the table, then held his hands out to her. "Vanessa McKenzie, I still trust you."

She couldn't meet his eyes as she shook her head in silence.

That hurt. He finally asked what had really been bothering him. "So what about us? Are you telling me you want to end that?"

Her face turned even paler if possible and closed her eyes, while her mouth worked, nothing came out, so she wasn't telling him it was over. Or she was trying to say so, but couldn't bring herself to do it, which Bradford would take as a no.

"Then come over here and tell me what's really going on." Bradford wasn't sure if she were listening to his mind or not, but if she was, he concentrated hard on what he felt for her.

Her eyes reopened, which were still dark with distress. "John, I really am not safe to be around."

Well he got her using his name. That was a start in the right direction. He knew she wouldn't let him cover over to her to hug, so he decided to use his bait. Bradford picked up the box, removed the lid and held it out to her. "Cookies? Chocolate chip to be specific."

Van stared at him for so long he almost started to sweat from nerves, but then just the faintest of smiles cracked through her distress and she slowly came over to him. Only to stop just out of reach. He grunted a little, then said, "All right, do you plan on making me cluck like a chicken, or bark like a dog or in general make me do something humiliating?"

"What? No. Of course not." Now Van looked offended. Good, that might get her thinking. "I'm not _intending_ to do anything to anyone, but I'm worried about what I might do unintentionally."

He had to be careful here, but at the same time be honest. "Van… What you did was intentional, so that's why I'm not worried."

The stricken look she gave him was heartbreaking, but it had to be said. She sighed and her shoulders slumped. "You must think I'm being stupid."

Talk about a sucker punch. He wanted to go to her, but didn't think she'd let him yet. "Not at all. What I do think is that something is riding you hard and trying to figure out how to help."

He finally took a chance on approaching her when he got a look of disbelief. When he put his hand on her shoulder, she shivered, but didn't pull away. Taking that as encouragement, he slid his hand down to hers and gently tugged to get her moving. Bradford couldn't quite hide his frown at the oddly stiff way she moved, but it obviously wasn't far to the nearest couch.

Since this was Van and she had some weird ideas about eating and her weight, Bradford figured she'd probably gone back to living off coffee, vitamins and those abominable protein shakes, he handed her a couple of cookies. Granted, they were probably a step down nutrition wise, but usually fresh baked cookies cheered her up. Especially when they were her favorite.

If that didn't work, he'd tranq her after all. Maybe after some solid sleep she'd start to be a bit more rational.

At least now he understood why she ordered Tygan to come up with psychic shackles strong enough to hold an Elder.

When she didn't react to that thought, he sighed internally. "You know, Van, I haven't taken away my permission for you to touch."

She paused in mid-bite, then squirmed slightly. "I… You really aren't afraid of me?"

"What the _fuck_ , Vanessa? Afraid _of_ you? No. Afraid _for_ you? Hell yes."

It was difficult to read her expression as she went back to slowly chewing. He was content to just sit next to her while she thought. Things weren't quite where they should be, but they were getting there.

There was a deep breath that was released gustily from her before she quietly asked, "And I don't disgust you?"

What kind of stupid shit was that? Not quite sure what to say, Bradford just stared at her. She scrubbed her face and muttered. "God, I've really fucked things up this time."

Still not quite trusting his voice, he put an arm around her to hold her close. The hesitancy she displayed when she rested her head on his shoulder stung, but he was going to be patient.

Beside he was in the perfect position to shake her if he had to.

"All right, look. When I finished checking your mind, all four of you were staring at me with fear. It was so thick I could have probably cut it with a knife." Her voice thickened. "The way you were all looking at me…"

Oh. Oh shit. He hadn't realized. None of them had. "Definitely not scared of you, angel." The flinch at the endearment was worrying, but he'd address that in a bit. "We were worried about you because Steele said you went so deep they couldn't go after you. In fact they couldn't sense you at all."

Van frowned. "I could still sense my connection to them." She started to say something else, then stopped and snagged another cookie. The way she was eating them had him wondering if she had actually consumed even the shakes in the past few days.

So he decided to address one of her more baffling comments. "Why did you think I was disgusted with you? Which I can assure you would take a lot more than you taking apart my mind and putting it back together."

She was quiet as she finished the cookie, then as she brushed away the crumbs said, "When I met your eyes, all I saw was fear and revulsion."

Since he decided to be bluntly honest, he decided to stay with that. He sighed and ran his free hand over his hair. "Had to puke."

"What?"

"Tygan said that between what they did to me and you purging my head, my body had dumped a load of toxins into my gut. Presumably the quickest way of getting rid of them."

"John… I didn't find anything from them. There was a kind of residue that I kept cleaning out, but I think it might have to do with age and nothing to do with them."

He shrugged. "A moot point now. All I know is at the time I was trying very hard not to projectile vomit on everyone in the room."

The laugh he got for that comment was one of the sweetest sounds he'd heard.

Then it was his turn to smile as he felt the first tentative touch of her mind on his. Bradford was well aware that she could read someone's mind without them being aware of the fact, but it was also her nature to let him know out of courtesy. He tried to make her feel as welcome as possible.

There was a quiet gust of breath that wasn't quite a sigh, then she was curled up against him, both body and mind.

Bradford didn't hide how happy that made him.

"I'm sorry, John."

He kissed her temple. "Exhaustion and grief can do odd things to people. Just don't wall yourself up like that. If you can't talk to me, talk to Steele or Jane. I know they'd understand where you're coming from."

"And here I thought command was supposed to keep their concerns to themselves?"

"Things are a little a different now."

"Yeah." She looked like she was still chewing over something.

"What is it?"

"Since I saw so many of your memories, and while I tried to ignore them, some stood out. I thought, to be fair, that you have a look at mine."

That was incredibly sweet of her, but he wasn't going to take her up on the offer, but he kept the reasons to himself. He already knew enough details of her past to satisfy him from the extensive background check on her before the invasion. More importantly, she was emotionally fragile and he had no idea what a stroll through memory lane would do to her.

Instead he leaned over to lightly kiss her. "Thank you, but you don't need to."

She kissed him back and he felt the feather light brush of her mind over his, not just the casual touch. When Van leaned back she nodded. "All right, but if you ever change your mind, the offer is open."

"Know that, angel." At least this time she didn't flinch, just settled in a little closer to him. It looked like she was starting to fall asleep. Normally he'd let her, but she needed more than just a handful of cookies in her. "C'mon, Van, let's get dinner first."

She covered her mouth with a hand in the vain attempt to cover up a jaw cracking yawn, then she gave him an uncertain look. "Okay, but only on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You spend the night here. I'm not sure what I'm up to, but I'd like to at least cuddle with my fiancé."

His heart suddenly felt a hundred times lighter. "Easily done."

"Okay, then let me change real quick. I probably shouldn't be slouching around in sweats."

"You're fine the way you are." He didn't want her to keep finding reasons to delay leaving her quarters. Besides the sweats weren't that bad and it was technically her off hours, not that he really worried about formal dress anymore.

The sharp look she gave him was the Van he knew. "All right. Let's get going before I lose my nerve."

Cyber was still out in the corridor when they emerged and Bradford immediately felt bad. While trying to walk Van through her crisis, he'd completely forgotten about the drone. The combat medic's tone was too casual. "Hey Commander."

"Cyber."

He squinted at Bradford, then continued. "Can I ask you about something, ma'am?"

"Go ahead."

"What'd you do to my gremlin?"

"Oh." He felt a flutter of laughter from her in the back of his mind, even though she kept her expression serious. "I just loosened the connection to the power supply."

The man looked a little consternated and Van shook her head slowly, a smile starting to form. "I don't know what they're teaching you kids these days, but back in my day the first thing I would've tried was unplugging it and plugging it back in."

Between Van's sly smile and Cyber's expression, Bradford couldn't help laughing. It felt really damn good and he felt hope return.


	49. Chapter 49

April 4, 2035

05:50 Mountain Time Zone

Canadian Countryside

"Are you sure you're up to this?" John asked quietly.

Since to Van's brain it was almost four in the morning and she still hadn't gotten sufficient coffee into her system yet, she just grunted in the affirmative. When she realized he really was that concerned, she managed to dredge up words. "Yes. I just won't be up to field duty any time soon. Beside, we've already sent Menace 1-5 out."

"They can still be recalled."

She eyed him as she took a long swallow from her mug before she answered him. Yes, she was a bit wobbly emotionally, but she was more than capable of directing a combat op from Mission Control without having hysterics. "What gives?"

Still keeping his voice down, he asked, "Not allowed to worry about you?"

"Of course you are, but normally you aren't willing to abort a mission like this."

"Know you're not a morning person."

She flashed him a grin. He learned that painful lesson early on in their working relationship, which is why he always made sure there was coffee waiting for her in Mission Control.

John just shook his head, but he smiled faintly in return. "But you seem more out of it than usual first thing in the morning."

Well, he did have a point there. Getting out of bed had been harder than usual that morning. In fact it had required John to yank the covers off of her and haul her into the shower to help get her going. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Jet lag. You may be used to it, I don't know if it's day or night anymore."

Well, jet lag after four nights of not much sleep.

At least things were still good between them. Though she probably shouldn't fuss over him fussing over her after the inadvertent scare she gave him.

Comms Tech Eriksen saved him from having to come up with a reply. "Commander, the drones have arrived at the target location."

"Put it on the main screen."

The area that appeared was scrubland with little cover, except for a few ramshackle buildings that looked like they'd fall apart if someone sneezed on them. There were small patrols of ADVENT troops, but as she watched their movements she could see there was an invisible line they didn't want to cross.

John muttered. "Doesn't look good."

She nodded, but something was bothering her about the area past the ADVENT soldiers. "Ms. Eriksen, can you have the drones advance a little further without detection? I want a better look at the area if possible."

"Yes, ma'am." The tech's hands almost blurred over her console and she frowned. "Ma'am, I'm not sure just how far we can go, there's a lot of psionic energy and it might interfere with the transmission."

She exchanged uneasy glances with John, then asked. "Is it hazardous to humans?"

"Not yet, but the atmosphere might feel like it's overcharged with static electricity."

"Thank you." The Commander frowned at the image before hers. "What are those plants?"

"Checking the database now, Commander."

John rubbed his chin. "I'm going to hazard a guess that those aren't normal earth plants."

"I'll save your people some time," Tygan said from behind them. "They won't find them, because they aren't native to earth."

John grunted. "Take your word for it."

The doctor gave him a sharp nod before going over to one of the consoles to examine the readouts. With the scientist turned away, Van flashed John a quick smile and a near silent thanks. The grin she got in return was just as fast.

Then she sobered as she touched her comms. "Menace 1-5, I'm afraid I have the usual bad news…"

Shieldmaiden seemed philosophical the details, though there were some overly loud groans from the usual suspects.

Prophet asked, _"Any idea if there'll be any effects on Flashbang and me?"_

She looked over Tygan. He looked up at her and fiddled with his glasses. "There shouldn't be any negative effects. If anything, Prophet, the two of you should find yourselves more energized."

Privately, Van had a feeling that might be a negative for those around them, but she trusted them like she did the rest of her soldiers. So if either of them experienced a problem, they would say something.

"Commander," Eriksen said, "I'm going to have to pull back the drones. The amount of energy is going to fry them otherwise."

"All right." She turned to Lily who had just entered the room, yawning broadly enough to crack her jaw. Van couldn't help sympathize with her Chief Engineer, she felt the same way, but she had more urgent things on her mind. "Chief, if the drones are being affected by the excess psionic energy, how will our people's electronics hold up?"

Lily blinked at her, then went over to the console that Tygan was at to look at the readings over his shoulder. John commented. "They _are_ designed for soldiers."

"And that means what?"

"They're more rugged. Our current lot of soldiers are surprisingly careful with their gear. Normally it's not unusual to see someone drop an important piece of equipment in the mud then step on it. And that's if you're lucky."

Suddenly some of the comments made by her officers during the invasion made sense.

Lily nodded without looking away from the display. "Yeah, it's like Central said. I've designed their stuff to take abuse. And they sure can test that most days."

It wasn't much of an effort for her to pick up on the fact that they thought she was worrying about nothing, but worrying about the details was part of what she did. Well, everyone except John. He understood that the devil were in the details. "I will abort if there's interference with the comms."

Mission Control fell silent except for the occasional murmured status report until Firebrand landed to unload Menace 1-5. After Shieldmaiden made her report about their status on landing, Flashbang spoke up. _"Commander, Prophet and I can feel the increase in psionic energy already."_

"Is it adversely affecting either of you?"

" _No, but I think our abilities might have some spectacular results."_

The first squad of ADVENT troops went down easily enough.

The second not so much.

The second squad had an officer that actually had a working brain. It quickly directed the troopers to take up defensive positions. Then displayed a creative use of grenades to keep the XCOM forces at bay. Thankfully they'd learned from their past misadventures so they weren't clumped up so the blasts were nothing more than a nuisance.

"Someone jam their comms so they can't call for help. Someone else take out that damn officer."

Lily had shoved Tygan away from the console and was furiously typing away. "Working on it!"

Defcon snarled over the comms. _"So you wanna play with grenades, huh? Let's see how well you play catch!"_ With sharp movements, the grenadier loaded her launcher to send a grenade of her own flying. It landed right at the officer's feet. Proving that it had better than average reflexes, it dove away just as the grenade arrived.

Unfortunately for the officer, the dive sent it out of cover where a flurry of crimson light from multiple weapons fried it.

With the death of the officer, the morale of rest of the ADVENT troops broke. Van's people had minimal injuries as they mopped up.

While Cyber made sure the injuries were as minor as people were making them out, Shieldmaiden said, _"Okay, Bosslady, where –"_

A loud insectile shriek cut the ranger off.

It was answered by another. And another. And another. _Many_ others.

The shrieks all came from a distance away from where the soldiers were, but from different areas and coordinating with one another.

" _Fuck,"_ Defcon swore, but the edge of her voice held eagerness, not fear. _"Where's Bug Queen the Exterminator when you need her?"_

The grenadier's comment drew a few nervous chuckles.

Flashbang held up a fist that crackled with electricity. _"Maybe a bit of lightning will do?"_

" _Enough people, let's get moving,"_ Shieldmaiden said as she chivvied the squad into movement.

Van nodded slightly in approval even as the bulk of her attention was focused on the readouts in front of her. John lightly touched her shoulder to get her attention. "We've got a hit on a possible structure about a half klick north of where Menace 1-5 is now."

"Good. Send it to them as their destination. We'll reassess if there's nothing there."

He nodded in return, then lowered his voice. "Will admit, those chryssalids have me worried."

She thought about that as she watched the squad slowly leapfrog their way, staying close together to cover each other should one of the insectile monsters pop up in their midst, but not so close a grenade or missile could take them out. Her voice was just as soft. "They know the things are out there hunting so I'm sure they'll be able to handle them."

The lines around his eyes and mouth deepened for a moment, then he shook his head slightly. "You're right."

Vanessa hoped she was right too. Instead, all she said, "Here's hoping that those new nanoscale vests the Chief's people cooked up will help protect against the chryssalids poison. And infection."

"Yeah." His reply was barely audible.

Over the comms she heard Prophet alert the team that he sensed something was incoming.

That's when she saw the first disturbances in the ground. "Menace 1-5, you have at least three burrows coming from the northwest, north and east of your location."

She had no idea if that was just three of the alien bugs, or more. The Shadow Chamber had been vague on exact numbers for the location, but since they were dealing with chryssalids, it was anyone's guess as to the numbers they'd be facing. There had been times during the invasion that the creatures had seemingly gone insane and everything around them, human and alien.

Considering the fear displayed by the ADVENT soldiers they were wary of being food and incubators. So that posting had likely been punishment duty. Assuming of course the ADVENT troops had some amount of free will that would let them fuck up from time to time.

She broke off her musing as she spotted a nicely rocky area not far from the team. Hopefully the ground was solid enough to keep the chryssalids from popping up beneath the feet of her team.

" _Thanks, Commander,"_ Shieldmaiden said with relief after being directed to move to the location Van had spotted.

Just in time too. Four chryssalids popped up around the team.

Even though they were prepared the insectile aliens still wreaked havoc on the squad. One got a good slash in on Naidoo's leg with a spray of blood after its claw slid down the armor of her torso, another sent Cyber flying with a whack of its leg and a third pounced on him.

Flashbang lived up to the promise of being a human bug zapper when she unleashed an electrical torrent on the third chryssalids causing it to spasm with flailing legs. The psi-operative was right about the boost, though Van hoped the woman didn't overdo it.

With her infamous scowl in place, Defcon shredded the fourth monster with her gun while Shieldmaiden leapt up and split in half the chryssalids that was on Naidoo.

Prophet calmly picked off the one that had Cyber pinned then had to help shove the corpse off the medic.

Van studied the readouts on the squad's vitals, particularly Naidoo, with concerned eyes as Cyber checked on the injured. They couldn't afford to lose their only combat hacker left.

John lightly touched her shoulder to get her attention. He nodded to the screen and quietly said, "They're fine, Commander."

She drew a sharp breath, let it out just as quickly and nodded in return. Bird dog's death had hit her hard, harder than she cared to admit, even to herself. She refocused on the soldiers' readouts and saw what he meant. Yes, there were injuries, but nothing life threatening.

" _Okay, Shield,"_ Cyber said loudly enough for the comms to pick up. _"Everyone is good to go."_

Shieldmaiden nodded, then said to Van. _"Got that boss?"_

A faint smile curved her mouth. "Yes. You can proceed."

She didn't have to tell them to be careful, they already were doing that. Or at least Shieldmaiden was and that was the important part.

" _Are the drones picking up any more of the creatures?"_

"Unfortunately, the drones won't be able to go any further, the psionic energy is too much for them. So we'll have to go by what your team is carrying"

" _No problem, Commander. Good thing Shen builds our stuff to be tough."_

There was no civil response to that comment that she could come up with and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the woman in question smirk a bit.

Van just shook her head slightly as Shieldmaiden got Menace 1-5 moving again.

There were more chryssalid attacks as they progressed toward their objective and while there were more injuries, it seemed that no one was affected by the poison. By then Lily had come up next to Van to observe the main display. "So those new vests are helping then."

"Yes. I know you intended the vests to help protect against external poisons like what the vipers spit out, but they seem to be working against injectable as well."

Lily rubbed the back of her neck. "We hoped that would be the case, but weren't positive, which is why I didn't say anything."

"Perfectly understandable. I will admit that was the result I was hoping for." She saw more movement. "Heads up, Menace 1-5"

" _See them, Commander."_

Even as she paced and gave tactical advice, Van wondered just how many of the creatures there were. By her count the soldiers had faced ten, including the newest batch. Thankfully the team had gotten used to dealing with the creepy aliens and were able to finish the group off with only a few scrapes.

After only a few more minutes, the objective came into view and Van knew that it was definitely the goal of their mission. As if life wasn't already a sci-fi story, now it added a twist of fantasy. Something that looked like a portal straight out of numerous fantasy games she'd played over the years stood on an elevated piece of ground. The massive U-shaped structure was made of an unfamiliar metal with sinuous organic lines.

Van could practically feel Tygan and Lily salivating over the thing. "Since there's still indications of hostiles, it's going to take a bit you two."

They chorused together. "Yes, Commander."

"All right, Shieldmaiden. Approach that thing carefully, we don't know what it's going to do."

The ranger had only just begun her cautious approach when the gate flared with the too familiar violet light of psionic energies and a massive white metallic ball emerged. It had shallow grooves encircling it and at the center of the mass was a shuttered aperture.

Bradford muttered. "What the hell?"

Van _really_ didn't like the looks of that thing. "Find what cover you can."

They were already moving before the words were completely out of her mouth. Thankfully, they didn't bunch up either, but what cover available left a lot to be desired.

The strange orb floated in front of the portal for a moment, then charged forward, flattening everything in its path.

So much for cover.

Shieldmaiden beat her to the punch. _"Scatter!"_

They did as told except for Defcon. The grenadier stood her ground, raised her left arm and let fly with a cone shaped hail of metal shards. At least half pinged off the armor, but there was still significant pitting of the armor once the attack ended.

The orb stopped and focused its aperture on Defcon. The soldier turned to run, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the beam of fire that shot out at her. It scored a line along her back, damaging her grenade launcher besides singing her.

" _Fucker! You're gonna_ pay _for that!"_

Van growled at the pissed off soldier. "Defcon. Move!"

And suppressed her sigh of relief when the woman scrambled to her feet and hustled away from the thing. For a moment, she'd been worried that the grenadier's anger would overcome her good sense.

" _We have incoming!"_ Prophet's shout drew her attention back to the rest of the squad as more burrows in the distance rapidly advanced on them.

After giving the directions the chryssalids were coming from the Commander growled. "Defcon, rejoin the squad."

There was no response and she was too occupied with the attacks on both fronts to worry about one person.

She paced back and forth as she watched the battle between her people and the aliens, only dimly aware that she was gesturing with an empty coffee mug as she gave direction to Menace 1-5. When someone took the mug out of her hand, she barely noticed.

The first chryssalid that popped up went straight for Naidoo. Except Shieldmaiden was lurking nearby. She lashed out with her sword, cutting off the forelegs then followed up with a backhanded slash that cut off the front of its face.

It collapsed in a heap with ichor spraying all around it.

The next two also headed for the combat hacker, who shot at one while the other got hammered by Cyber and Prophet. Flashbang just barely dodged the leap of a third.

A fourth one popped up, but at a distance from the squad. It appeared confused to Van with the way it looked around itself. Then it saw the squad, did a little jig then ran towards them.

Then a fifth popped up behind the occupied squad, even as she yelled out a warning, there was already streams of crimson light slamming into its back as Defcon came to her people's assistance.

The orb proved to have been playing a waiting game, using the chryssalids as a distraction. It disproved Van's idle assumption that it was some sort of artificial construct as it cracked open to reveal some sort of fleshy blob inside.

Four tentacles swiftly emerged and all too familiar psionic energy began to coalesce around them. Her eyes widened as she realized how the insectile monsters caused the group to bunch up.

All Van could do was yell out. "Scatter!"

Fortunately, the time spent training on that particular tactic paid dividends since they did as told.

Unfortunately, the orb-beast proved to have a larger blast radius than the codex did. For some reason it focused the center on Naidoo, rendering her unconscious which sent Shieldmaiden, Cyber and Prophet flying. It staggered Flashbang, but she managed to stay on her feet.

Though it did take out the last of the chryssalids too. So that was something at least.

Before the spherical creature could react, Flashbang sent a blast of electricity in retaliation.

As its tentacles flailed about, Defcon ripped into it with her machinegun. It hastily withdrew back into its shell and barreled right for the grenadier. She just barely dove out of the way before it got her. It spun about, slid open the shell and reached out for her with its tentacles.

" _You ain't getting me with those, fucker!"_ Defcon screamed as she fired on the thing.

The tentacles flailed about again, but this time in its death throws as it blew up. The blue haired soldier turned away, covered her face with one arm. _"Damn. Hey Commander. Tell the Chief thanks for improving my gun's energy pack capacity. I'd've been screwed if the pack had less shots in it."_

Lily smiled. "You're quite welcome, Defcon. Glad that upgrade worked as well as it did."

Van glanced over the readouts, frowned, and then looked questioningly at John, wondering if there were any more hostiles being detected. He shrugged in response.

Nodding glumly, she took back over. "Cyber, patch everyone up the best you can, starting with Naidoo. The rest of you stay on guard. Someone see if you can disable that gate without damaging it."

It had to be the source of all the psionic energy in the area. "Doctor, Chief. I think that portal, gate, whatever, is the entry point you got from the codex."

Both of them nodded, but Tygan answered. "That would be my thought as well, Commander."

"Right. Then I want to make sure that portal isn't a risk to my ship before we bring it aboard. I don't want to think about the aliens activating the other end without safeguards in place."

She didn't realize how she referred to the Avenger until she saw the faint smile on Lily's face and the sense of approval from John. She mentally shrugged a bit. The ship felt like hers in a way the original HQ never did. Van stopped thinking about it as John handed over her newly refilled mug while the four of them quietly discussed how to retrieve the blasted portal.

Hours later as the recovery teams hauled in the remains of the orb alien along with the rest of the useful detritus that was scavenged from the battlefield, she shook her head. "God. Why did they think stuffing Cthulhu's little cousin into a Pokèball sound like a good idea?"

Lily snickered as she overheard the comment while John shook his head in bafflement. "I'm not sure which is worse. That I got those references, or the fact that I keep wanting to ask about a keymaster every time I heard one of the squad call that thing a gatekeeper."

Van couldn't help laughing at that comment, which went a long ways to easing the tension of the day. Especially when John flashed her a broad grin in return.


	50. Chapter 50

_**April 5, 2035**_

 _ **06:00 Kamchatka Time Zone**_

 _ **Siberian Countryside**_

He was beginning to understand why Van complained about feeling jetlagged. It had only been a few hours ago that they'd wrapped up getting that damn gate at noon and now it was early morning the following day.

Bradford realized that he was mentally stalling even as he made the short walk to Van's quarters. The news he had to discuss…

The old soldier hoped it wasn't too much for the Commander. He couldn't help worrying. She was a strong woman, but everyone had their breaking point. God knew she'd been through enough to have reached that point.

Enough dawdling, he needed to get this over an done with.

Only to get sidetracked _again_ when he approached her door and saw Harkes was doubled over with tears streaming down her face.

As he ran towards the soldier, he worried that she might have been injured worse than she had let on.

When Bradford got closer, he saw that she was laughing that hard. He stopped with a frown as she held up a finger in a wait a moment gesture, then she gestured to the door.

That's when he heard the refrain about a chest high wall and the frown shifted into a scowl. That damn song. It was one of the most nonsensical things he'd ever had the misfortune to hear and it had of course swept through the barracks twenty years ago because of it mocking shooter games.

It was still one of the most goddamn annoying things he'd ever heard and now it seemed that Van was infecting another generation with it.

Harkes wiped her eyes. "Sorry, Central, but that was some of the funniest shit I've heard in a long time."

Despite the situation, he smiled. "Understood."

Satisfied that all was well outside, he approached the door to Van's quarters. It opened as the volume of the music turned down to something bearable. He silently cursed the timing of everything, because if she was blasting some of that wretched music, she had to be in a good mood.

Now he was about to ruin it. If things weren't so urgent, he'd wait until later.

Van was seated at her desk and spun around in her chair with a smile. That expression quickly vanished before she asked, "What's wrong?"

He drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out as he came into the room, making sure the door closed behind him. "We're being hunted. There's a UFO on our trail and I'm not sure if we can shake it off."

She paled at his initial words, then her color returned. She dryly asked, "So why are they still called UFOs if we know what they are?"

Bradford didn't resist the laughter her question sparked and relaxed from the tension. That was such a Van comment, either as the woman or the Commander. She would be all right and that would help keep the rest of them steady. "Guess we call them UFOs out of habit."

"Makes sense." Then she turned serious. "So what do we know? And what are our options?"

He grabbed a chair to sit down at the desk with her to go over what intel he had. When he finished, Van was quiet for a time thinking about the information. "Just how good are our odds to avoid it? Or any other units it might call up for assistance?"

"Not very and very good."

She was quiet as she thought that over. "Right. I take it you've already prepared for the worst?"

This was one of the reasons why he loved her. "Of course. We're already on evasive maneuvers. Or rather what the Avenger is capable of doing. We're in a remote area of northern Asia so we shouldn't have to worry about any population centers. Both the troops and the staff have plans for situations like this."

"I take it you wanted to brief me before activating them?"

"Yes."

"Then get the ball rolling."

He gave her a grim, tight smile and sent the command through his tablet. "Done. If there isn't anything else, I'll return to Mission Control to monitor things."

"I'll come with you."

That was the response he expected and while they didn't say anything else during the short walk, he could practically feel her thinking. About what, she didn't give any sign, not even mentally.

Oddly enough, she seemed remarkably relaxed, as seen by the cheerful greeting she gave the staff in Mission Control. "Afternoon, or morning, folks. I hear we might have some unwanted guests crashing in on us at some point."

There was nervous and subdued laughter in response.

That's when he remembered the raid they made on the alien base all those years ago. She'd shown that same attitude then.

And the present staff, like the one long gone, took heart from her and the tension eased to something manageable.

Her next words was for his ears only. "We'll get through this somehow, John. This time we have warning."

Bradford wondered if she was saying that for his sake or hers.

Then he didn't have time to think about that as his attention was taken up with piloting the Avenger.

Despair almost overwhelmed him when he saw the saucer shaped image appear in the radar and head toward them. He left the ship in the control of the autopilot and returned to Mission Control.

The atmosphere was tense, but there was no panic. Van stood off to the side, calmly talking to Shieldmaiden on one of the small, secondary displays. At some point she'd changed into her armor with sword and shotgun at her back. That's when he saw that most of the crew were armed, if not already in some type of armor themselves.

" _So if we are boarded, are you joining us in dealing with them?"_ There was just curiosity in the soldier's voice.

"I plan on staying in Mission Control, but I wanted to be prepared just in case."

Van's voice whispered in his head. _Speaking of just in case._ _You really should get in armor yourself while you have the chance, my knight._

Tucker yelled out. "Incoming!"

There was no time to do anything but hope the autopilot could keep the ship from getting shot until it could land the ship in a good location to defend themselves.

Except that too was ruled out when the emergency lighting kicked in as all of the systems around them died along with the overhead lights. The floor tilted under his feet sending him skidding and he grabbed onto one of the bars around the hologlobe. The telltale beeping coming from his tablet told him what he already knew. "Power is out! We're dropping fast!"

Shen, who'd been standing off to the side to watch the proceedings, started fiddling with her tablet. "Impossible! There's no damage to the engines. Unless… They're using an electromagnetic pulse. If I can just bypass all this alien circuitry… Hold on!"

Since he, and everyone else in the room was holding onto something, and none of the engineer's babbling made a damn bit of sense, he growled. "Shen."

The engineer's voice took on an edge of hysteria. "It's not accepting the transfer! Interface is ready… the system is overriding my command!"

Van's voice was strangely calm as she said, "Shen. Focus."

"Right" Shen's head snapped up with a look of determination on her face and she ran over to a side panel.

The floor beneath his feet vibrated with the sputtering of the engines as they tried, and failed, to kick in with what power remained.

The engineer ripped the panel off and flung it to the side before grasping the handle to a cylinder and pulling on it.

Power surged through the ship, but not enough for the engines to go to full power to try to escape the pursuing craft. Instead it gave the Avenger enough juice for a semi-controlled decent.

Avenger still landed hard.

Even though the room filled with brilliant violet and blue psionic light, wrapping Bradford and everyone else in a kind of cushion, his head still hit something and he blacked out.

Consciousness returned to Bradford with an aching head with Van kneeling by his side. With her assistance, he slowly got to his feet. In the background he heard the ship's AI reporting a malfunction with the emergency power. "How bad is it?"

Van gestured toward Shen who came over. The engineer was tense. "Bad," she said bluntly. "I managed to deploy one of the drones and before it was taken out, it reported that there was a spike out there generating the same pulse that took us down."

He pressed a hand against his aching forehead. "So while that's there, we're not going anywhere. And our enemies are gathering."

Both women nodded grimly. "How are the sensors?"

Shen turned even grimmer. "That's…not good either."

He sighed and pressed his other hand against his now throbbing forehead, then he dropped his hands and sighed. "Looks like you get to do this the old fashioned way, Commander."

The Commander readied her shotgun. "I know. Do what you can to get ready to lift off as soon as we have that generator down."

If she were afraid, she gave no sign as she headed off to the armory to round up whomever was ready.

He wasn't given long to worry about his Commander when Shen recruited him to help with…something in one of the panels. At her direction he acted as a second set of hands. There was a brief shower of sparks, then his comms crackled to life.

" _Central, are you reading me?"_ Van asked.

"Yes, there's some static, but you're coming through clearly enough."

" _Good, that'll make it easier to keep in touch."_

While she was a strong enough telepath to talk to him mentally, it was still somewhat distracting, not to mention draining, for her to do so in combat.

" _Anyway, we're deploying static defenses now."_

Thankfully when Shen set up the repurposed turrets for defense, she'd set it up so they had their own independent power source. So there was some additional defenses, not just bodies on the line.

When the soldiers comments as they set up, he had to pause and shake his head, as he once again cursed that damn song.

Defcon yelled over the comms. _"Hey guys, we have chest high walls! We'll be fine then!"_

Cyber replied. _"Screw your chest high wall. I have a_ head high _wall."_

There was quiet laughter in return, including Van's.

They settled down soon enough and he grumbled at Shen for lack of eyes to see what was going on as he listened to the troops.

Ice filled his veins when he heard Slinger yell. _"It's not the ship they want! It's the Commander!"_

"Shen! How much longer until I have eyes out there?"

"Working on it, Central," the engineer growled.

Frustrated, he ran his hands over his hair. "Commander. Can you give me an update?"

" _Busy."_ Her shotgun fired in the background. Then she shouted out that she was switching to sword.

What the hell was going on out there?

He started to open his mouth to annoy Shen some more when she pre-empted him. "Still working on it, Bradford."

Central shut his mouth. He scratched an ear. "Commander, is there anything you can give me?"

Each word was punctuated by a grunt accompanied by the sound of metal striking flesh. _"What. Part. Of. Busy. Do. You. Not. Fucking. Understand?"_

Before he could reply, Shen shouted. "Got it!"

The main display flickered to life to reveal something out of his worst nightmare.

Van surrounded by enemies as she held them off with blade and telekinesis while the rest of the soldiers tried to beat them off of her.

 _Author's note: For those that are curious the song in question is Shooter Guy by Miracle of Sound._


	51. Chapter 51

_**April 5, 2035**_

 _ **09:47 Kamchatka Time Zone**_

 _ **Siberian Countryside**_

It was her greatest nightmare come to life.

First with the Avenger being pursued by their enemies and likely to be overtaken. After all, the ship had never been meant for any type of war. It was a transport ship. So it wasn't fast, armored out the ass or possessed any kind of weaponry.

It was essentially a goose. One flushed out of cover. No worse than that. _Grounded_. With the fucking goshawk planted on it, bristling at its master, even as it waited for said master to retrieve the prey.

No! She wouldn't give into her terror.

This had been one of the scenarios they had planned on, and after all, wasn't this why she'd been putting herself through combat training? Even going out into the field?

Vanessa McKenzie was _not_ going to be taken by those fuckers again.

Even if she did have to fake her cheerful nonchalance for the benefit of the crew. If she gave up, they likely would do and she couldn't do that to them.

So when the Avenger was brought down like said goose, she was ready. Thankfully, so were her fellow psionics when they fed her the energy to extend her telekinesis through the ship to brace everyone on board.

And made a mental note about safety systems for the future.

The landing, if you wanted to call it that, was rough. Then finding out the sensors were down because of the lack of power…

For a moment the fear surged up, a bitter taste in the back of her throat.

Then she saw the confidence in those around her, not just John and Lily.

It steadied her. Reminded Van that she wasn't helpless anymore, there was a reason why her people called her Athena. She'd make sure to live up to that name with whatever came their way.

With her resolve strengthened, Van briskly walked down the dimly lit corridors to the armory. Organized chaos reigned as soldiers prepped to greet their unwelcome visitors. Except for the core of Menace 1-5. She wasn't surprised, but still pleased, to see that they were already geared up.

"You're joining us, Athena?" Cyber asked curiously. The question earned him a glare from Shieldmaiden.

"With the power out, yes. Which leads me to our main objective. Other than keeping would be stowaways off the ship."

There were some nervous titters at her quip.

"There's a beacon outside that's keeping us grounded. So Shieldmaiden, I need you to be our forward scout as usual. Naidoo, send your gremlin with her just in case we need your remote hacking skills. The rest of us get to play bouncers at the door."

There were a couple of chuckles mixed in with the acknowledgements. The group got moving at her gesture.

When the ramp opened, she let out a silent sigh of relief. It was supposed to have its own backup, but she had been half afraid that got shorted with the rest of the systems. Reality ignored her fears as the ramp opened smoothly then extruded the landing pad and protective ramparts. Once everything was in place the repurposed turrets deployed.

Athena was still dubious about the usefulness of the turrets, but was willing to give them a chance out of respect for Lily's expertise. At the very least they would provide additional targets to distract their enemies from her people.

Defcon setup at the centermost barricade and grinned. "Hey guys, we'll be fine! We have chest high walls!"

Shieldmaiden rolled her eyes and Athena gave the other woman a faint smile. At her signal, the ranger slipped off to scout out the area and to get the exact location of the beacon.

The pulses of light shooting into the sky gave a good general direction.

Everyone present laughed when Cyber cheerfully said, "Screw your chest high wall. I have a head high wall!"

Slinger snorted over the comms. _"Who needs walls when you're the eye in the sky?"_

Athena turned her head to see the sniper wave from a perch on top of the Avenger. Well, that worked since it probably gave her a good view of the battlefield. "All right, everyone settle down. Our guests will be here any moment now, let's make sure they get an extremely warm welcome."

"Got that covered, boss!" Bug Queen said cheerfully, patting her forearm mount. She really didn't want to know what the grenadier had up her sleeve.

" _Hopefully that has range. Got three archons incoming."_

Her gut clenched at the sniper's words. She'd seen pictures of the things and had a general idea of their abilities, but this was the first time she'd be facing them. In some ways they were almost worse than the lumpy, misshapen floaters they replaced. For some reason the aliens had chosen to make their exterior armor appear like the upper body of a noble looking man that could have been a Greek or Roman statue, each bearing a too familiar style of polearm.

Only with fire erupting from the bottom of the torso as the means of propulsion.

It was yet another sickening example of how the aliens were corrupting human culture.

There was an electronic whine as the turrets swiveled toward the incoming aliens, but three ruby colored lances flashed out, not two.

The middle archon didn't have a chance to react. The headless body fell to the ground, sending ichor and meaty bits flying on impact.

"Good job, Slinger."

" _Just warming up."_

The other two aliens froze at the death of their compatriot, then shouted as they swiftly advanced on the Avenger. Unsurprisingly, they were unharmed by the turrets. It was a bit disappointing though. She'd hope they'd do _something_.

Defcon yelled. "Bug! Light 'em up!"

The two grenadiers' guns seemed to send out solid beams of light, rather than the usual flurry of darts. They clipped both targets, one went spinning off in the distance, and the other stopped short.

With a scream of fury the remaining archon soared into the air and sent a cluster of the "feathers" at its back shooting up into the sky. She'd heard about the weird artillery these things carried, but seeing in action was something else.

It seemed the troops had suffered from enough grenades and micro-missiles to scatter out of the affected area without any orders on her part. Athena ducked down behind her "wall" to weather out the resulting blasts.

" _Heads up, Boss,"_ Shieldmaiden said over the comms. _"Got two vipers and a sectoid coming from the west, and a squad of troopers just behind them."_

"Thank you. Keep making your way for that beacon, we'll deal with the incoming."

" _Yes, ma'am."_

At Naidoo's gesture, her gremlin flew up at the archon then emitted a small burst of electricity. The archon fell, probably more out of surprise than damage from what Athena could see, but stabilized within range of their assault rifles. The shredded creature fell just as the aliens and the ADVENT troops emerged from the scrubby woods.

The ensuing firefight made Athena grateful that they were in an uninhabited area. Between the laser batteries from her own people and the magnetically accelerated rounds from ADVENT combined with the plasma blasts from the aliens, the greenery in the area was quickly shredded and set aflame in some cases.

While some of her people were wounded, at least they weren't in too terrible of shape.

Yet.

The firefight took out one of the vipers and the sectoid, and only got grazing shots on the ADVENT soldiers.

It felt like they were being deliberately being pinned down for some reason, so when more of the support troops came out, she sent them to provide additional coverage on their flanks.

She was particularly worried that she hadn't heard any further updates from Shieldmaiden after getting a quiet message that the ranger was going radio dark. Deciding to take a chance, she started to reach out with her telepathy to see if she could see how the soldier was doing.

Screams of pure inhuman rage echoed through the area, shattering her concentration. Her people shifted around uneasily, looking around for sources of those screams. Refusing to let herself be intimidated, Athena said, "Stand your ground, we can face whatever is coming our way."

A scaled down version of the berserker queen emerged from the woods. Once it was out of the shadows, Athena could see it had white skin instead of green and a distinct lack of hardware.

It was still terrifying.

But she done with being afraid.

The massive creature screamed again and barreled forward at the defensive line. Before the others reacted, Athena stepped forward with shotgun at the ready. When the beast was close enough, she fired. The head fell backwards as the body slid to a stop at her feet. The angry psionic pumped the shotgun and snarled. "Who's next?"

There were a few quiet chuckles from her people even as there was a stir among their enemies.

Two more berserkers stepped out, but they hadn't been worked up into a frenzy yet. Both creatures sniffed the air, then looked right at Athena. Someone muttered. "Oh, that doesn't look good."

"It isn't," Prophet said tensely. "Athena…"

She stepped back behind the bulwark as the two monsters charged right at her. An arc of lightning slammed into one and froze it in its tracks as it flailed from the energy coursing through its flesh. The remaining XCOM soldiers focused their fire on the other.

A shadow overhead made her look up to see the remaining archon charging her with its pike, the head of the weapon crackling with energy. She hastily rolled away from the monster, firing her shotgun as she went. Not surprisingly the shot went wide, but the creature soared back up and away from her, which was the whole point of shooting at the thing.

Athena hadn't realized where her dodge had taken her until the berserker that Flashbang had tried electrocuting came barreling at her with outstretched fists. She misjudged just how fast the monster was, so she wasn't able to sidestep away as quickly as she'd like, but instead of getting the full brunt of the creature's attack, she "only" got clipped.

That clip was enough to send her flying with an aching jaw and a loosened helmet. Athena quickly got her to feet, spat out a couple of teeth that she hoped her regenerative abilities would regrow. Not wanting to turn her back on the enemy, she readied her shotgun as her helmet slid down the back of her neck. The berserker spun around and froze. The massive nostrils flared as it sniffed the air again and stared at her with frighteningly cunning eyes.

The roar that came out of it made her think of a hunting dog baying to let the huntsman know it cornered its quarry.

Suddenly it felt like the focus of the aliens shifted to her completely and in the distance she could hear an officer shouting something and more howls rose from the enemy ranks.

The berserker shifted its stance and it reached out for her again, but this time its hands were spread out in a grabbing motion. She had just enough time to get one shot off before it reached her.

The head evaporated in a fine amber colored mist, but she hadn't fired.

There was no time to thank whomever just saved her sorry ass when the archon swooped down at her again. She sent it flying away with a telekinetic blast. Without looking around, Athena sprinted back to the barricades.

Only to be intercepted by a viper that had been lying in wait for her. It reared up before her, fingers splayed out on its empty hands, its plasma rifle still strapped to its back.

It didn't try to attack her, but it swayed with every hint of movement from her to block her path. Off to the side she could hear shouts from her people as more aliens engaged them. Probably to act as a distraction.

She was hesitant to physically engage the viper since she wasn't sure how she'd fare against a creature that was comparable in speed and reflexes to hers. She also wasn't sure if her telekinesis could hold the creature's weight and with the number of sectoids in the area, she didn't dare crack open her mental shields to control the viper.

When she could hear heavy footsteps pounding up behind her, Athena made up her mind. Taking a chance, she mentally grabbed the creature with her kinesis and flung it to the side, then ran for all she was worth to the ostensible safety of the barricades.

Only to be intercepted by a muton.

As she dodged the creature's attempt to knock her out with the butt of its rifle, she heard Slinger's shout. "It's not the ship they want! It's the Commander!"

"No shit, Sherlock," she muttered to herself, keeping her voice low enough so the comms wouldn't activate.

Then she sensed more approaching from both sides and her rear. Which of course was the perfect time for John to pipe up with his status request.

Unloading the last of the charge in her shotgun into the muton's face, she growled. "Busy."

She jumped over the fallen creature, then bolted the remaining meters to the barricades. Just in time too, as a wall of aliens crashed into her position, taking down the barrier. Every one of those creepy eyes focused on her. All of those grasping claws reaching for her.

There was no time to reload her shotgun's energy pack so she drew her blade.

"Going sword." The evenness of her voice surprised her, but there was no time for that either as her enemies piled on.

Athena had always heard of people getting into a "zone" when fighting. Where they had perfect clarity of the situation and opponents around them. As she began her frantic defense, she finally understood what it meant.

Whether it was due to her telepathy or something else, she fell into a state where she found she was able to predict their moves before they made them. So when a muton went to subdue her with the butt of its rifle, she managed to duck under the blow and mentally shove the brute into one of its comrades while slashing a leg of one of its comrades.

If she had any modicum of grace, Athena would have called it a dance. Brutal and barbaric, but a dance none the less. Except she wasn't graceful by any stretch of the imagination.

However, she was fast and strong. Two factors that made a difference in her situation. Some part of her was more than a little pleased to once again be using what the aliens did to her against them. So she pushed herself as hard as she could, knowing she'd pay for it later, but there would be a later. One where she was not taken by the monsters again.

One of the comms techs tried pinging her again for John. Another snarled, _"busy"_ , got them to back off.

The fight became a series of broken images:

She spun away from one attack, using the momentum to eviscerate another attacker, covering her in a welter of gore.

Blocked another riflebutt stroke with her weapon, then kicked that attacker in the knee hard enough to cause the joint to make an unnatural crunch as it stove in backwards.

A quick whirlwind of razor edged cerulean light made the rest back off slightly in the attempt for her to use the sudden gap for her to try to get away to the rest of the troops who were pouring fire into the ranks.

A chryssalid leaped at her as she began to step through the opening the two fallen mutons had left in the crowd. It just took a small burst of concentrated power to send it flying over her head in pieces, even if that action left her covered in the creature's foul smelling innards.

That was when John had to display a sense of horribly awful timing with his latest demand for details.

It threw her out of her "zone" and allowed her enemies to gather around her again. Fury at the situation filled her, making her blows even stronger. Hacking at a limb, or head, or torso, she growled for him to fuck off.

Yet it also cleared her head to let her actually think instead of reacting.

Drawing every ounce of energy she had, she sent out a blast of energy out in a sphere around her, flinging her attackers away.

Panting heavily, she hurled herself further into the defenses where the others had cleared a line for her, slipping a bit in the centimeters deep muck covering the floor of the ramp.

As she gasped for breath, trying not to breathe in the stench of dead alien, she took a quick head count and was pleased to see they were all still standing. Battered, bruised and bloody, but still standing.

Which reminded her…

"Shieldmaiden. Status?"

The ranger's voice was hushed as she responded. _"Near beacon. Lots of chryssalids."_

"Slinger?"

John spoke up. _"Commander, sorry to interrupt, but there's more reinforcements on their way."_ There was a hesitation in his voice that she didn't like.

"What is it?"

" _There's a battleship on its way."_

Well, fuck. Though she was careful to keep that to herself. "Slinger, please tell me you can a fix on the beacon from Shield."

The sniper let her weapon speak for her.

A pressure she'd been unaware of vanished as the pulsing light in the sky vanished and Athena found herself breathing a little easier while reloading her shotgun.

Furious screams rose up in the distance, not all of them insectile.

Athena didn't need anyone to tell her the power was back, she could feel the thrum underfoot. "Good work. Shieldmaiden –"

" _I know, Boss, haulin' ass."_

Lily sounded worried as she spoke over the comms. _"Sorry to do this to you, but I need you guys to buy us a few more minutes. We need to get the systems restarted."_

"We've got it." There was need to point out the obvious that she wasn't leaving one of her people behind, so they'd have their time.

A quiet ping came from the tablet on her left forearm signaling that some of the sensors were up. She regretted looking at the display. That was a lot of aliens. A lot of _angry_ aliens. Then again, she didn't really need the tablet to inform her of the numbers. She could see them quite clearly on her own as a tidal wave of them rushed their position.

Defcon looked at Bug Queen with a wicked grin. "Think it's time to try out the new toys."

The other grenadier grinned back and Athena's gut clenched in fear. The two women raised their left hands at the same time, but aimed in slightly different directions. Slightly curved cylinders popped up out of the forearm mounts of their armor. The ends directed at their enemies developed an ominous turquoise glow.

Twin sprays of projectiles flew out in a cone of lethal hail, shredding everything in their path. All that was left was a haze of smoke hanging over what could only be described as chunky salsa made of destroyed trees and pureed aliens.

What was left of the enemy forces froze in shock. Over the comms Shieldmaiden yelled. _"Holy fuck! What was_ that _?"_

Athena swallowed back her rising gorge at the sight. "I'll explain later. You on your way?"

" _Yeah. That…hailstorm almost got me."_

"Move while they're stunned."

Shieldmaiden didn't say anything as she raced along the edges of the woods, sending up sprays of ochre colored liquid with each footfall. There were a few halfhearted attempts by their attackers to shoot her, but they flew astray.

The ranger slid into place, splashing those nearby with liquefied remains. That was when Athena noticed that there were corpses piled along the edges of the ramp.

" _Now that everyone's in, pulling in the ramp."_ Lily's announcement brought a profound sense of relief. There were a few halfhearted cheers, but she could see everyone was too wiped out to be as excited as they normally would be.

Feeling the Avenger taking to the air, Van gave in to her exhaustion and let her aching body flop to the deck, ignoring the disgusting slush covering it. She was covered in much worse after all. The rest of the squad did the same, though Bug Queen and Defcon were excitedly chatting about their shredstorm cannons. She couldn't help smiling faintly at their enthusiasm.

Then winced as her growing teeth added to the chorus of agony from the rest of her body.

Familiar, heavy footsteps made her look up as John approached, then stopped just outside of the puddle so the muck wouldn't get on his boots. She was too tired to try to figure out the mix of emotions that flitted across face, so she said the first thing that came to mind and weakly gestured at the mess. "It's not mine."

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. He dryly said, "Already figured that out. Wrong color."

He hesitated for a moment, then leaned over with an outstretched hand. Van didn't blame him for not offering right away, this was worse than the incident in the psi-lab. She waved him off. "They can hose me down with the rest of the deck."

Her neck protested as she looked around at the similarly grimy squad before she amended her statement. "Well, make that all of us."

John just shook his head before he walked off shouting orders at nearby support staff to help them clean up.


	52. Chapter 52

_**April 5, 2035**_

 _ **13:00 Vladivostok Time Zone**_

 _ **Arctic Ocean**_

"So do we have any idea how they found us?" Van asked wearily, her breath frosting the air. Even though her body and mind craved sleep, she forced herself to stay awake long enough to make sure they were cleanly away from pursuit. At least she'd been able to take a hot shower and get a bite to eat.

Even if that meant parking the Avenger in a fucking iceberg. Oh, John claimed it was an island, but she had her doubts about _that_ given the amount of ice. Even though the life support supposedly was adjusted to compensate for the extreme temperatures, without making the ship a massive beacon of heat, it was still damn cold. That was definitely odd, since they never had this kind of issue when at Resistance HQ.

So the current environment resulted in the usual staff, minus Jane, Jay and Kadi, showing up for the briefing bundled up in heavy layers. Hell, even she had to wear thermal underwear under her jumpsuit with her fingerless gloves over her hands and was considering adding an additional layer.

Lily shivered, though the motion was barely perceptible under the heavy sweater she wore, and tightened her grip on her mug of hot tea. "Near as we can tell, just pure bad luck on our part."

"Quite." Tygan agreed. "Both my people's and Shen's have been going over the ship. There's nothing on the Avenger to let them track us."

John picked up from Tygan. "Just in case, some of my staff from Mission Control are triple checking."

Van nodded and drank some of her own tea. "Lily, any ideas of how long repairs will take? I can tolerate the cold, but I know not everyone fares as well." That was being diplomatic, she was fairly certain most of them couldn't handle it for long, much less tolerate it. "And while I'm not an engineer, I'm going to ask that you check the life support systems anyway."

"Yeah, that was my plan. I've got people looking at them now." The engineer scrubbed her face with one hand tiredly, she'd fought her own strenuous battle while Menace 1-5 had been in the physical battle. "As for time… Two days, maybe three. I hope less, what with the freezing shit and all, but we need to make sure we get things properly secure before going to HQ for the rest of the repairs."

That didn't sound good and Lily was troubled by it. For good reason. That seemed too long to endure the chilly temps. The closest they'd come to this was Valley's domain, but they had ways of keeping things heated. "Is there some way of rigging up space heaters? Something that won't be a fire hazard or get in the way, but still help keep people warm?"

Lily rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then brightened. "The gremlins! We've got plenty of spares, we can just use some basic models to help warm up the air around someone."

"Good. Anything else?"

Tygan spoke up. "Not much, but I did want to let you know I've assigned people to studying the armor on the muton corpses that were brought in when the ramp was closed. Based off the previous research we have on file, I believe we might be able to come up with something usable by our troops." He held up a warning hand as John, Duane and Adam leaned forward with interest. "I don't know what the results will be, so don't get your hopes up."

The three men exchanged rueful grins.

She smiled a little at the eagerness. "All right, anything else? No? All right, go find yourselves someplace to stay warm then. As always, let me know if there's anything I can do."

They all scampered off with almost indecent haste, except for John who remained in the seat next to her. He gave her a long look, then pulled her close. "How's the jaw?"

That was the last question she'd expected and he chuckled quietly. "Thought I didn't notice?"

It was her turn for a rueful smile. "Maybe?"

John chuckled again, pulled her onto his lap then gently ran his fingers along her now healed injury, including teeth. The feeling of the teeth growing back in had been uncomfortably weird and she was glad she had been alone at the time it happened.

Normally she loved the little touches she and John shared in private. Except this time his fingers were cold and she hissed a bit as she sucked in her breath. Forget cold, his fingers were fucking _freezing_. They were like little ice cubes.

His hand jerked away and worry lines crinkled around his eyes and mouth. "I thought you said you were fine?"

"I am fine. Your fingers…" Van hastily mentally edited what she was about to say, figuring he wouldn't appreciate her comparison to ice cubes. "Are a bit chilly."

The tension eased out of him as he pulled his hand fully away to tuck his hands under his arms. It certainly was one way of warming up his hands, and a common one, but it seemed vaguely disgusting.

Smart enough not to say so, Van instead pulled his hands out and wrapped her hands around his fingers as she reached out with her telekinesis to grab the blanket off her bed to tuck it around them. "I hope I'm not holding you up from anything."

The smile he gave her almost warmed up the air and she felt some tension ease from his frame. "Nothing urgent right now, angel. Got it taken care of while you were cleaning up."

"Good," she sighed as the events of the day came crashing down on her and she tiredly laid her head on his shoulder. John pulled his hands away, one arm to wrap around her, the other to adjust the blanket around them. His now warmer hand slid out to briefly run along her cheek and jaw. "Sure, you're okay?"

"Yeah. Later I'll probably have a freak out, but for now I'm okay, except for being in danger of freezing my ass off." She stifled a yawn, then gave him a sharp look. "If I'm cold, I can't imagine what you must be feeling."

"Better now that I'm with you."

"Flatterer."

John grinned. "It's true. Between your body heat, all of the layers I'm wearing and the blanket, I'm doing much better." He pulled his hand back under the blanket to wrap that arm around her with the other. "And before you say anything, it _is_ an island. There's just a lot of ice cover. Though if I'd known about the life support, would've tried a different area."

Another yawn ruined her intended mock scowl.

"Van, seriously, get some sleep. I'm not needed just yet, you are off duty for the rest of the day along with Menace 1-5."

"Maybe I should go to bed then."

"Do you _really_ want to peel off any layers right now?"

She thought about that. The bed was likely to be freezing and there was no way she wanted to crawl into bed with all the clothing she had on. "You might have a point there. Are you sure I'm not too uncomfortable for you?"

He brushed his lips against her cheek. "You're just fine. Though you might want to take your boots off for your feet's sake."

"Another point." It took a little careful wiggling, since she didn't want to dislodge the blanket, but the boots eventually came off, which in turn made it easier for her to curl up with him.

He held her tighter in response. "Now get some sleep."

She gave him sleepy smile, rested her head on his shoulder and was lost to her dreams almost immediately.


	53. Chapter 53

_**April 7, 2035**_

 _ **08:11 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Russian Countryside**_

"What the hell is going on, Valley?" Bradford asked angrily. Even though Shen had gotten the heat back in the Avenger the day before, he was looking forward to spending some time in a place that was properly warm _and wasn't moving_.

Instead he found himself being taken somewhere on the skyranger along with Van. Their only guards were their three psionic operatives, which were at the man's request. The implications were not good, especially when Valley told him to make sure he had his mindshield with him as well as having his combat gear.

That Valley wasn't wearing any kind of armor and not even carrying a pistol was telling.

The fact hadn't escaped the rest of them either by the way they kept looking at the man.

Van. No, the Commander leaned forward and asked bitingly. "Yes. Just what is going on?"

Valley scrubbed his face with both hands, when they fell away he looked _old_ and tired. And above all scared. "Look, before anything else, I'm pretty sure I'm not controlled."

All four psionics stared at the man while Bradford felt a cold chill go down his spine.

Firecracker, a callsign that Varzar earned from the defense of the Avenger, shrugged. "You do seem clear, sir."

The Commander continued to stare when the other three relaxed. Finally she said, "Spit it out, _Mister_ Valley."

He winced. "First things first. I'm sure Bradford remembers that early on in the occupation, we constructed a holding facility."

Bradford rubbed his forehead in the vain effort to stave off the headache he could feel starting. "Please tell me this doesn't have to do with one of Vahlan's harebrained schemes."

"What? No. The woman isn't capable of anything like that right now, thanks to the Commander here." Bradford got the faintest hint of satisfaction from her, but she continued with the basilisk gaze on Valley. The man sighed. "This has to do with the containment facility we put together as a just in case measure."

Oh, this was really not good. "You managed to capture a high ranking ADVENT officer? How?"

"Not ADVENT. And before you rip my face off with your mind, Commander, let me finish."

There were very unsubtle movements as three of the psionics reached for their psi-amps as Van just crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her seat. Bradford could still feel the tension in her body, despite the display of nonchalance. He was impressed at the calm reply. "I'm listening."

"Fuck, I don't know how else to say this, so I'm gonna be blunt. We had an Elder come to us to provide his assistance."

There was a flash of cerulean light in her eyes, but she didn't say anything. Bradford wondered if he was going to have to put down one of his oldest friends as an act of mercy.

"Christ, the lot of you look like you're going to bury me, ease up. He's in the containment facility." He audibly swallowed before looking the Commander in the eyes. "He says he's Doctor Alan Weir and that he knows you."

He frowned to himself at the name. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place from where.

Only the rage that suffused Van's expression distracted him. "What kind of sick joke are you making, Bartholomew Valley? My former boss died during the invasion and if he hadn't, he'd be dead from old age. Try again. If you're still trying to shit me, I'll rip the truth out of you then make your brain ooze out of your nose."

There were winces all around at her angry threat. Valley waved his hands in a placating gesture. "I mean it, Commander. That's who he identified himself as, but those alien scanners your people gave us went nuts when we checked him over. So that's when he admitted he had… Shit. I can't believe it myself. He called it a symbiotic relationship with an Elder. So he, they, it, whatever, got put into the containment facility."

Bradford didn't know where to start with the whole situation, but after getting a good look at the Commander's murderous expression, he just hoped he could keep her from doing anything she might regret later. Bradford doubted he'd regret it since he was aware things could get ugly in a war. Especially when fighting for the very existence of your entire species. When her temper wasn't roused, Van wasn't inclined toward viciousness.

In fact she saw it as a war of keeping what made them human. In her eyes torture usually destroyed that, both in the victim and the torturer. Which was a perfectly good attitude to have in a commanding officer since it meant the troops would generally follow suit, but sometimes things had to get messy. He'd handle the messy parts for her. Better than he had in the past. He just hoped this wouldn't be one of those moments. So Bradford watched her carefully and hoped her good sense would overcome her temper.

Her nostrils flared, then settled and she heaved out another gust of breath. "I'm sorry for my reaction, Valley, but that bit of information just hit a raw nerve."

Valley just nodded, not hiding his relief, then over and held out his hand. "No hard feelings, Commander."

She lightly grasped his hand. "Thank you."

Firebrand's voice crackled over the intercom, giving no sign if she heard the ruckus. _"ETA five minutes."_

Van's voice was slightly strained as she said, "Thank you, Firebrand."

The short time was spent calmly discussing the logistics of what they were going to do on arrival. A thought struck him and he suddenly realized those damn shackles Van wanted to be used on her would come in useful. He grumbled at Valley. "Wish you'd given us more details. Might have something to help contain the Elder."

Prophet coughed. Bradford scowled at him. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Had a hunch."

"How many know about those damn things?"

"Tygan, a couple of his people who worked on it, the psionics."

Valley looked around in confusion. "Know about what?"

"A way to lock down an Ethereal's psionic abilities."

"A what?"

There was a quiet huff from Van as she was reminded not everyone knew them by that name. "An Elder."

The man's eyes bugged. "How is that even possible?"

Van smirked. "We have our ways."

Even Bradford couldn't help eyeballing her due to that expression. He decided he wasn't going to ask what they did to test it since he knew he wouldn't like the answer. So why get pissed off when he didn't have to be? Especially since it seemed no one had gotten hurt. So when Valley turned to him, he shook his head. "Don't look at me."

Valley shook his head and grunted. "Not helpful."

Athena leaned forward. "So when exactly did this person show up anyway?"

"Almost three days ago. Why?"

Central exchanged a concerned expression with his Commander. That would have been around the time they'd gotten the portal. It was far too much to be a mere coincidence. She shook her head and leaned back in the seat to think. At Valley's confused expression he said, "The timing is suspicious. It would've been right around the time of the op just before we were attacked."

"Fuck! I swear I didn't realize that."

Van sighed and ran a gauntleted hand over her face. "I know, Valley, I know. I also know I'm probably overly paranoid, but when you take everything into consideration…"

The granite faced man snorted. "I'm surprised you come out in public at all."

"I won't let them win by taking what little I have left to me."

That got her an appraising look from Valley that shifted over to him, but neither of them gave him anything to work with.

She didn't have to look at Bradford for him to know she included him. Then the engines changed pitch as the skyranger began its descent and everyone put their game faces on.

After Firebrand landed and before they debarked from the plane, Prophet and Flashbang scanned the area while Firecracker stood guard. Athena just watched in silence, but she did have her psi-amp to hand. When they gave the all clear, they were the first two to go out, followed by him and Valley with Firecracker and Athena taking the tail end.

As usual, Central felt conflicted over his Commander being part of the guard when she should be one of the ones being guarded. While he didn't see himself as a smart man, he liked to think he was somewhat wise. And that wisdom said not to fuss at Athena for doing what she'd been training to do.

Even if none of them had ever intended her training to go in the direction it did.

He consoled himself with the thought that at least she was in the rear guard and not being the first into a potential hazardous situation.

Their entry into the facility was decidedly anticlimactic.

The guards in place were alert and very much not under control. They went through security easily, though Central was pleased that they had to go through authentication first. Maybe it wasn't as secure as what they would do, but it was better than what it would have been just a few months before.

It was even more anticlimactic to see a bored looking, middle aged, caucasian man with a prominent nose propping up a pair of glasses and short, greying, brown hair sitting on a cot in the containment area. The prisoner's boredom disappeared as he peered at the newcomers.

Then his eyes fell on Athena and his expression lit up with joy. "Van! It is you! You are a very welcome sight for these sore eyes!"

"That's Commander McKenzie to you."

Weir sputtered wordlessly, eyes wide in shock at her hostile tone. He held his hands out to her. "I know it's been twenty years, but surely you remember me?"

"I remember an old man who should be dead from his advanced age. If he hadn't died during the invasion."

He shook his head. "It was a near thing, my dear, but Asaru saved me just in time when my building collapsed on me. We renewed our bond and he was able to heal me."

Central couldn't believe what he was hearing. Without thinking about it, he asked, "Renewed?"

Once the question came out, he spared a glance for Athena who looked like she was dealing with some sort of internal struggle. Movement caught his eye and he turned his head just enough to see Valley edging back while the remaining psi-operatives stepped forward, amps at the ready, but not acting just yet.

" _If I may?"_ The question was asked in an otherworldly voice that was decidedly not Weir's. A ghostly blue form that looked an awful lot like an Elder emerged from Weir's body. There were streams of energy still tying the two together. It was almost as horrifying as seeing what was in those stasis pods at the blacksite facility.

That shocked Athena into acting. She snarled and suddenly the shackles, a black metallic headband with dark violet crystals and matching bracelets, appeared on the man then fastened down.

When had she developed teleportation? That he'd definitely ask her about later.

Weir cried out in shock in an oddly dual toned voice.

Athena stared at them with just a hint of cold satisfaction. "Now that I know you can't get up to anything, you can speak."

The man stared at his hands in horror. "What have you done?"

"Contained you and your little friend. This place would hold you about as well as a wet paper bag so now you're properly confined."

The horrified stare shifted to her. "Van… What happened you? You've never displayed a tendency toward this kind of malice."

Her face became an emotionless mask, though the way she clenched her hands didn't escape his notice. If she weren't wearing the gloves that came with the armor, there would likely be blood flowing from her digging her nails into her palms. Central just hoped she didn't claw through the gloves. Her voice was freezing when she said, "You can thank your parasite's friends for that."

The prisoner's eyes widened behind his lenses and he abruptly sat down. "He isn't a parasite! We have a true symbiotic relationship. If it weren't for him, I would be dead several times over."

"Fine. Symbiont. How do I even know that you're Doctor Weir? You look younger than when I knew him and even without alien tech it's easy to get a face changed."

Central couldn't blame her for her paranoia. He was feeling rather paranoid himself.

Weir smiled warmly at her. "That's easy enough, my dear. The night you were summoned to serve as Commander to XCOM, I had called you. It's been a few years, so I don't remember their names, but I told you to expect a couple of military men to escort you to your new job. That you were being temporarily transferred to a new position." He sighed and fidgeted with the frame of his glasses. "I'm afraid that was right before an attack from the aliens caused my house to fall down about my ears. So, my dear girl, I can see why you thought I was dead."

Van paled and looked away from the doctor for a moment. When she turned back, her jaw was clenched and her eyes were like steel. "Say I believe you for now. How exactly are you able to help us?"

"Information. I can tell you what my people are up to."

That earned a snort of derision from the Commander. "The Avatar Project? While may not have all the details, we have a good idea of what's going on with that."

Weir seemed to deflate at her words. "I hadn't realized."

"We do have operational security in place."

That got her a fond and wistful smile. "You always were security conscious. It was one of your strengths when you were in training."

"Excuse me?"

"There's a reason why I started Foresight. You weren't the only one I was training, but you were one of my brightest trainees."

Bradford couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Trainees. You knew about the invasion beforehand… Why didn't you warn anyone?"

"Oh, I did. It's why Agent Carter finally managed to get XCOM pulled out of the mothballs."

What the hell? It sounded like this all happened before, but that was impossible. Bradford exchanged an incredulous look with Van. She turned back to Weir. "You may not have current information we need. Unless you can get us a way in to the leadership?"

He shook his head regretfully. "Unfortunately, Commander, I'm rather on the outs with them. But maybe what I went through in the past might have some bearing on the present. Though it is a long story. You'll probably want to sit down for it."

Those words were guaranteed bait for Van. Except he knew her paranoia was stronger than her love of history as he watched her weigh her options.

Valley nervously cleared his throat and gestured for Bradford and Van to follow him.

Once they were to the side where no one else could hear them, he asked, "How secure is he with those shackles?"

"Very. Why?" Van asked in confusion.

"There's a break room that we can all sit down and talk, but it means letting him out of there."

That was tempting, because even Bradford was curious about what the human, as well as the alien inside, had to say. "It's up to you, Van."

She sighed. "As long as no one gets sloppy, it'll be feasible. He won't be able to physically overpower us before he gets shot."

That got her the side eye from Valley and she just smiled at him. "Right. Not going to ask."

Bradford was definitely glad he didn't ask any questions about those shackles. That just confirmed he really wouldn't like the answers.

Her smile broadened, then she turned serious. "So we'll have a 'pleasant' chat then?"

"I don't know if I'll put it like that, Van," Valley replied. "But it'll be civilized. We even have plenty of tea and coffee. Though it'll have to be in paper cups."

"Good idea." She sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Let's do this and hope we're not making a mistake."

It didn't take long to clear the room out and soon the three of them were seated at a table with Weir with the psi-operatives on guard.

Weir took a sip of his coffee. "I guess the best place to start would be back in October of 1962. When the first invasion was at its height."


	54. Chapter 54

_**April 7, 2035**_

 _ **07:48 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Russian Countryside**_

Van was not having a good morning.

She'd been promised a chance to sleep in with John in a properly heated room that didn't smell like an alien had died in the vents and stunk up the place. She'd even been talked into having a girl's only spa day. She wasn't quite sure how that was going to work, but she was game to try.

In fact, she'd been looking forward to getting her hair cut since it was starting to get to the point where the hint of curl was rapidly turning into actual curl. When it got to that stage, it stopped being cute and became the stuff of nightmares. And there were a few people who had training as stylists that had taken refuge with the Resistance.

Instead she got roused at an early hour, had a hasty breakfast she didn't even remember eating, nowhere near enough coffee and now was at her locker in the armory staring at her armor. Next to her, John was already shrugging into his. Normally she'd consider it a good opportunity to watch him, since she did enjoy his body as much as his mind, but she was too grumpy to enjoy the show. "All right, John. What the fuck is going on?"

"Valley has something he wants us to see. Said it was urgent. Needed to gear up for it though."

"That's it?"

John stopped in the middle of fastening up the torso of the armor at her snippy tone. "Van, I know you don't exactly like, Valley, but –"

She waved that off and started the process of armoring up. "I like him just fine, he's a good guy and he's great at schmoozing. It's his judgement with the greater scope of things that I question."

"Heh. You might have a point there. This time did sound important though."

"So important that it's only you, me, and three guards. Who happen to be our only psi-operatives."

"Whatever it is, it's sensitive. Valley is definitely twitchy over it."

"Fine. Fine. We'll go see his thing,' she grumbled as she slid into her armor. As she began to close it up, she commented. "But if it isn't important, I'm going to get creative in what I do to him."

He grinned. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Out of long practice, they started checking each other's armor to make sure everything was fastened correctly. John quietly said, "Will find a way to make this up to you, angel."

Van didn't bother to hide her exasperation. "John."

"Know, I don't have to, but want to." He clapped her shoulder. "Good as always. Going to go check on the rest of the prep."

She nodded, lightly touched his face with her finger tips before he strode off.

Prophet approached her while she was stowing the rest of her gear. Van didn't need any kind of psionics to tell the man was upset by something with the way he was fidgeting. "What's wrong?"

He rubbed his forehead. "Not wrong exactly, but those shackles you had made."

The morning was just getting better. "What about them?"

"I get the feeling we're going to need them."

A thrill of fear went through her. Was this something that was finally going to push her past the breaking point? It took a bit more effort than she cared for to throttle it back. "Any idea on who?"

He shook his head. "I just saw you putting them on someone, but I couldn't see who it was. You definitely didn't use them on yourself."

That was something at least. She was also grateful that when he had a vision like that, it wasn't metaphorical. "All right, I'll get them in a few minutes."

He removed a case from his combat webbing and handed it to her. She opened it, checked to make sure the contents were secure then put it away in hers. "Must've been a pretty convincing vision."

The swarthy man smoothed back his ponytail nervously. "Yeah, Athena, something like that."

"Right, then. Let's round up the others and get moving."

When they were finally on the skyranger, with a noticeably unarmed and unarmored Valley, Athena went from merely cranky to downright angry as time went on. Her old boss supposedly alive and well, asking for her? As well as an Elder?

How could it be anything other than a setup?

Good thing Prophet had that flash of his, it was time to truly test out the shackles.

And while she did apologize to Valley for venting a bit of her spleen on him, she didn't feel too guilty about it. He shouldn't have been so secretive.

Central's intense desire to not know about how they tested the shackles amused her enough to blunt the worst of her anger for everyone involved. Particularly since the other three psionics were attempting to soothe her temper as carefully as they dared.

When they finally got to this containment facility of Valley's, Athena was pleased to see that the guards weren't under anyone's control and the area was clear. Though she could sense a strong psionic signature somewhere inside.

Then she was facing something that not even her nightmares had inflicted on her.

Doctor Alan Weir, a man who had been more than her boss, almost a father figure to her. When she'd last seen him, he'd been a surprisingly fit man in his late 80s. Now he appeared to be middle aged.

That wasn't the horrifying part. Given what alien tech could do, it was no surprise in fact.

No, the horrifying part was seeing the psionic image of an ethereal overlaying him. Bound to him in some way. Even more horrifying, the two looked like they were becoming one being.

Vanessa didn't react terribly well when she saw that. So when the, the _thing_ accused her of malice, she had to stifle the urge to show it just what she felt for the alien invaders.

Shackling the creature did make her feel better though and agreed to listen to it so she'd have time to figure out how to separate the two.

Flashbang whispered in her mind as they escorted the prisoner to the suggested room. Though neither of them said anything, she could feel them listening in. _Athena, is that what they have planned for us?_

 _Yes._

 _That's…_ There were no words, only a sense of utter revulsion.

 _I know, Flashbang, I'm hoping we can separate the thing from the doctor. We'll need some way of keeping the thing contained for questioning._

 _Keep it occupied, Athena, we'll work on separating them. The shackle will help since the thing is contained_

There was an unvoiced question hovering at the edge of the other woman's words. _Yes?_

 _Is this really your former boss?_

That right there was the rub wasn't it? She'd skimmed enough of both minds to know they both believed it. _The host and the parasite certainly seem to think so._

 _Just how well does he know you then?_

A fair question. _I'm not sure at this point. Those two months during the invasion were pretty intense, there were a lot of things that happened that I'm pretty started to change me. These last two months…_

 _Oh yes, there have been definite changes. Just be careful._

 _I fully plan on it. That's why I didn't just rip the ethereal out of the doctor. I'm not sure what would happen if I did. If they prove to be too much of a threat, I will destroy them. Important intel or not._

A grim satisfaction radiated from all three psionics.

Once they were seated, with surprisingly decent coffee, Athena said, "Before we get around to this supposed previous invasion. There's a few things I want to know about."

"Of course, V- Commander." There was a faint tremor in his hand as he picked up his coffee.

"Judging by our conversation before your building fell on top of you, I'm going to guess that how's you know I'm XCOM's Commander."

He nodded and took a sip from the paper cup. "Yes and hoped you were the one still in charge when you think about how long it's been."

At least he stopped calling her "my dear". "So if you're on our side, where have you been these past twenty years?"

"House arrest, observation, interrogation. Take your pick for description. Asaru's people were trying to figure out how our bond was working. They performed enough experiments to keep us from fully bonding as we intended."

Central exploded. "You want to do what? Are you insane?"

The human sniffed. "Not at all. We both wanted to become a bridge between humanity and the elders to achieve better understanding."

"You are out of your minds, both of you," Vanessa snarled.

"That was when the elders first started the invasion. After we learned about Avatar, that desire changed."

"Really now," Valley commented sarcastically.

"Yes, really. " There was no sarcasm in his response. "Please believe me when I say that Asaru never meant any of this to happen when he warned his people."

"All right," Van said coolly. "I'll bite. Warn them about what?"

"That humanity had captured him. Unfortunately, his memories before that time are hazy and he really only remembers what happened after he bonded with Agent Carter, then myself."

Van drank some of her coffee and considered his words. The worst part was that he truly believed what he saying. As did the thing he was harboring. She tried to rein in her skepticism and give him the benefit of the doubt. "This sounds like this was part of something much larger. That invasion you mentioned?"

"Yes. To make a long story short, there was a quiet attempt at invasion by another race, they called themselves the Zudj. They didn't have the Elders' resources or manpower, so they went the infiltration route. Various intelligence agencies took note of the odd intruders, but didn't realize their true nature. This was in the early 60's. Then in October of '62 it all came to a head. That's when XCOM was first started."

That rocked her and she felt the shock from John. He scowled. "What the hell? XCOM was started in '93. I should know, I spent five years making sure it was ready."

"I only wish that were true, Central Officer Bradford." The man said tiredly. "It's probably best if I start from the beginning."

He spun a tale about another alien species infiltrating humanity called the Zudj. How from the end of 1962 and most of 1963 he was a part of a covert international organization to combat this threat. The primary field agent was one William Carter, a man who displayed some unusual abilities after being exposed to an alien artifact. There was an uncanny resemblance to their own situation, including a psionic network used by the Zudj.

One fueled by an ethereal.

Once the previous XCOM operatives took down the network and brought the ethereal into their base as prisoner, they received an unpleasant shock of their own. William Carter was himself possessed by another ethereal.

Asaru.

It had bonded with him when he was injured and the artifact containing the energy form of Asaru was damaged. The creature had bonded so tightly, it thought it was Carter and acted accordingly. When the real Carter realized what happened, he threatened to blow up himself and Asaru if the alien didn't vacate..

A sentiment that Van understood and approved of. So did John. Valley seemed torn.

Flashbang's voice whispered in her mind. _We got it, Athena. We figured out how to contain the ethereal in a prison that will keep it alive as long as necessary._

In her mind's eye an image formed of a crystalline structure. It looked suspiciously similar to the crystals the Outsiders left back during the invasion. Had those strange energy creatures actually some sort of ethereal?

She gave them her approval. _Can you get this to Chief Shen so she can start manufacturing one?_

 _Of course, Athena._

She returned her attention back to the doctor who was winding down with how he offered to act as a host for Asaru so that the alien wouldn't expire without having a host body to sustain him. How with Asaru's help, they were able to talk down the Zudj after their leader was destroyed and to convince them to move on.

There were so many questions from that, Van had no idea where she wanted to start. Her head ached and whirled from everything said. The worst part was that both still believed they were telling the absolute truth.

"So let me get this straight, the Zudj wanted us for what exactly? Slaves?"

"Yes. They're like locusts. They devour a world's resources then move on. If they come across a race they find useful, they make slaves of them."

Van rubbed her temples. "And Asaru's? I know about the Avatar Project, but given their technology and knowledge, it seems strange it's taken them twenty years to accomplish anything."

"It's complicated. We're the first species they encountered that are physically hardy and intelligent that possess psionic potential."

While she rolled that over in her mind, John scowled. "Twenty years still seems like a long time from what we've gathered about the Elders."

"They do think long term, they live enough to do so." He sighed a little. "While Asaru isn't sure, I suspect it's because we aren't like any other species they've encountered thus far. Beside the previous qualities mentioned, we were farther along in technological advancement than they'd seen. They're…curious." Weir smiled slightly. "And from what I can see, certain elements of the populace have certainly adapted some of their technology to suit themselves. Like we did back with the Zudj."

She gave him a noncommittal shrug, there was no way she was going to give him an idea of just what her people had made possible. Though if the invasion with the Zudj happened the way the two believed it did, he probably did have an idea. "Why did they wait so long? I know with their technology, they're capable of faster than light travel. The fifty two years between the end of the Zudj invasion and that of the ethereals couldn't have been all travel time."

"Part of it was spent getting as much information as they could from Asaru. Then they wanted to plan a course of action. Because we were so different from previous creatures, they wanted a different approach."

"And in the meantime you started Foresight to what? Prepare people just in case?"

He beamed her. "You always were one of the fastest to catch on to a situation. Yes, my, er Commander, I started Foresight because of XCOM being decommissioned. It was decided that since the immediate threat was over, there was no further need for us. While Agent Carter and I didn't exactly see eye to eye on many things, this one we did. So I started Foresight and he tried to work the government route."

For a moment, Van couldn't breathe. Thinking about what the Spokesman had told her, she had to confirm. "So the top levels of government, at least for the US, knew about the first invasion and that the ethereals were out there."

"I'm so very sorry, my dear, the very highest levels of most of the major governments knew. After all, they'd provided support during the takeover attempt by the Zudj."

Anger and despair welled up around her from everyone except Weir. The doctor just radiated resigned sorrow. Once again history repeated itself. She delicately rubbed her forehead. "What should have been brought to light to unify humanity was instead buried so that those in power could stay that way and continue their petty games."

"I'm not sure I'd put it quite like that, but yes."

John gave her a thoughtful look, then rubbed his chin. "So what happened that finally got them to even allow XCOM to restart again?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect it was likely due to Carter making a nuisance of himself. By then he probably acquired quite a bit of information on important people that they didn't want to be shared. They probably considered it a small price to pay to keep him quiet."

John frowned. "Except an actual invasion happened. Even if it was a couple decades later."

"I imagine they used the fact that XCOM existed as a sop to their conscience. After all they'd done what they could, how could they hope to prevail against such a powerful enemy?"

An old, familiar anger burned its way through her. The funding they'd had to fight to get, the poorly trained troops instead of the best of the best they'd been promised. Just two of the many issues they'd had in trying to run the defenses. Another thought struck her. "I was set up to fail from the get go as Commander, wasn't I?"

"That is a good supposition given everything else. Of all my trainees, you were the only one that didn't have a military background. Of all of them, you were the only one who came up with viable solutions to the scenarios I came up with from my experiences during the Zudj invasion." He looked at John. "No offense to you, Central Officer, but Van, ah, the Commander, didn't have any of the preconceptions they had."

"None taken."

"Please Vanessa, for the sake of our old relationship. What happened?" He leaned forward expectantly, but not enough to seem like a threat. "We, Asaru and I that is, knew that his people had won, that XCOM had been eliminated and their leader captured. Shortly after that the Eldest vanished and there was no word of you. Yet here you are. I have a hard time believing they'd be as entrenched as they are if you'd been active this entire time."

She thought over what she wanted to say. What she really wanted to do was rip out the ethereal and have an unpleasant heart to heart chat with the creature, but she wasn't certain if Doctor Weir would survive. Even if he wasn't entirely the same man she'd known, he was still enough of that man that she wanted to keep him alive.

There was no help from those around her. Valley didn't have a dog in this fight, John was willing to take her lead on this, and her psionics were trying to keep their anger and fear under control. To buy herself some more time, she asked, "So how exactly did you find Valley's people in the first place."

Weir sagged a little, the expectant gleam in his eyes dulling. "They found us. We were kept in a comfortable apartment that the psionic network was funneled through so that we were confined to quarters. Something happened to disrupt the flow as they raided a nearby location. We…persuaded them to take us with them."

That was the final straw for her. Athena raged to her feet, tossing the table to the side, grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the wall. "You want to know what happened? Your precious Asaru's people. For twenty years they used me against my people. That was after the damned Elder tried, and failed, at turning me into its own personal meat puppet and for whatever reason didn't want to kill me." She shoved a little harder, ignoring the choking sounds or the way the man's face was turning red. "They fucked with my genetic code so much I'm surprised I'm still human."

Athena released her grip, letting the man fall to the ground. As he curled up, gasping for breath, she snarled. "The only reason why I'm not ripping out that damned parasite out of you right now is because it might have more information that we can use. I don't believe your story, even though you think you're telling the truth."

She gathered everyone up with a look. "We're done here."

Prophet and Flashbang gathered up the doctor and deposited him back into his cell with everyone else remaining quiet.

Once she was outside in the clean air, she didn't say anything further as she tried to calm down. Van didn't want to take out her temper on anyone who didn't deserve it. John lightly touched her cheek in silence as they boarded the skyranger. Just that was enough to help ground her.

When the plane was back in the air, Firecracker finally voiced the anguish that had been brewing in her. "They knew all this time. Those fuckers knew and did nothing!"

"Worse than nothing," Prophet growled. "They deliberately set you up to fail. We wouldn't be in this situation if they had done their damn jobs."

Strangely enough, their reactions helped to regain further control. "You're right and unfortunately there's nothing we can do about the past. All we can do is look at what happened and try to avoid it in the future."

"But how can you be so calm, Athena?" Firecracker asked. "I just don't get it."

"Don't get me wrong, I want to kill something, but that wouldn't be productive, so I'm trying to stay rational."

Valley suddenly gave her a disturbingly sunny grin. "Well, I might have a solution for that."

She eyed him warily. "What did you have in mind?"

"Thanks to your networking and your people's efforts, we've been getting more people. We actually need to start expanding. Which is underground, but have to be careful with explosives."

Wondering where this was leading, she said. "Okay."

"I figure, let you use those enhanced muscles and psionics of yours to let you blow off some steam. It'll also let my people see that we have that kind of freaky shit on our side."

Being called a freak didn't bother her nearly as much as it once would have. Truth was, thanks to the aliens, she was a freak. Though it did offend her that lumped in her troops with that. "Valley…"

Flashbang spoke up. "It's okay, Athena. We are freaks in a way because of our powers are activated. There's nothing natural about that. You don't know what it's like to grow up under their heel and seeing them do strange things to people as punishment."

There were nods of agreement from everyone else in the compartment. John spoke up. "She's right. It will do them good to see that kind of power is on humanity's side. If you don't mind, Valley, I'd like to help too. Be good for them to see XCOM helping out in general, rather than just your people helping us all the time."

Valley nodded. "Any help would be welcome and would be good to see both parts of the Resistance working together to build something for a change."


	55. Chapter 55

_**April 7, 2035**_

 _ **09:00 Moscow Time Zone**_

 _ **Resistance HQ**_

Wondering what the hell was going on, Jane headed for the infirmary. It seemed strange that Doc Cuevas would call for her when she could've talked to Van or Bradford before they left.

Then again maybe not. Van was pretty crabby before they left. Hell, Jane was feeling pretty crabby herself. She'd been looking forward to the "Girl's Day" that Kadi had cooked up. The HQ might not have a lot going for it, but with the influx of people there were arriving, the place had more amenities. She'd been looking forward to exploring the place with a couple of friends.

Instead two of them got hauled away to deal with whatever had Valley's tits in a sling.

Which left her to deal with the doctor with the mistaken impression that Jane Kelly was the one in charge.

Though to be fair, she was in charge of the soldiers. Her step faltered as she thought of all the reasons why she might be called in. There had been a lot of dead aliens piled up on the landing pad when it was pulled in. Her people had been known to do weird crap without her da's influence.

Jane really hoped that none of them stuck something where it didn't belong.

All too soon she was at the doors to the infirmary. She squared her shoulders, tried not to take too deep of a breath of the stench filled air, and entered the room, only to stop just past the doorway with a puzzled frown. The only ones in there were Doc Cuevas and Brandt. Well, the medical pod containing Brandt.

When realized that, she felt sick. Had his condition turned for the worst after all? The previous reports had said otherwise, but his injuries had been pretty bad. She cleared her throat. "You wanted to see me, Doctor?"

If it had been Tygan, she'd have been flippant, but the way Cuevas handled a scalpel was enough to squash even the most socially ignorant of them. Her throat closed a bit at the thought because Jimmy had been the one most likely to poke at the doctor for the reaction.

Yes, she was used to loss, but it still didn't get any easier.

Cuevas gave her a sharp look. "Take it easy, Ms. Kelly, there's nothing wrong with your soldier. The contrary actually. It's time to pull him out."

"I'm guessing there's a catch."

"Not exactly. His injuries were extensive, if he didn't have the degree of augmentation, what that monster did would've killed him. However, he does need extensive rehabilitation."

That was a huge relief. "Which we can't provide on the Avenger and he needs to stay at HQ for a bit?"

"Yes."

Jane had to bite back the smartass remark that immediately rose up. "So what do you need me for?"

"I thought he'd like to have a friendly face nearby when he woke up and probably take the news better from you."

She thought about it and shrugged. "I guess that makes sense. What do you need me to do?"

"Just stay out of the way until he's out of the pod."

"Okay." Unsure of what else to do, but not wanting to stand in front of the door, Jane moved over to a corner to watch the doctor work. And just in time too. The two beefiest nurses came in to help the doctor with the task of decanting Brandt out of the pod.

As she looked around the room, it really sunk in for the first time just what kind of facilities they had, even if the stench that had taken over the rest of the ship was fighting, and winning, the clean antiseptic smell of the place.

A real surgeon. Nurses. Not just making due with Tygan anyone else with a vague idea of how to slap on a bandage. The infirmary was gleaming chrome with quietly beeping machinery. Medical beds with built in electronics that made life easier for caregiver and patient alike. Proper beds, not the cots they had for so long.

Her attention returned to the pod after a loud, protracted beep sounded just before the lid opened with a soft hiss. As the two nurses assisted Cuevas in disconnecting Brandt from all of his lines, another beep came, this one from her tablet indicating a priority message.

Wondering what was wrong this time, she pulled it out and saw that there was an automatic message from Van labeled "When Brandt Gets Decanted." Jane made a slight face at the choice of wording and skimmed through it. Once she was finished, she shook her head.

Did the woman have a plan for _everything_?

A couple of soft grunts made her look up in time to see the nurses transfer Brandt from the pod to the nearby bed. She stuffed the tablet back into its pocket and moved over to the bedside after the two nurses moved away, on the opposite side of the doctor.

The older woman nodded in satisfaction. "He's in good shape. Best to just let him wake up on his own. Here's a list of what you can and can't do."

At least those instructions were short and to the point. Even Harkes could follow them.

Once Jane proved that she could indeed follow orders as well as give them, the doctor left her alone.

Alone with her thoughts since Brandt was still dozing. While he was out and no one else was around, she took a moment to examine him. He'd lost weight during his time in the pod, and muscle tone. The most jarring change was how he'd been sheered like a sheep. While he didn't have Jimmy's curls, he did have a wild mop of black hair and a somewhat unruly beard. Both of those were gone.

He looked like a different person.

Not liking where her thoughts were going, she pulled the tablet back out to study the plans.

Jane shook her head in disbelief as she read through the plans, the details varied depending on his condition, but it all boiled down to Brandt not rejoining Menace 1-5 anytime soon. She wondered if he ever would.

Brandt stirred with a groan. She set her tablet to the side to take one hand in both of hers and tried not to wince at how bony it felt and trying to forget what it felt like to hold Jimmy's. "Hey big guy, take it easy there."

He coughed slightly and cracked one eye open. "Damn. Guess this ain't heaven."

"'Fraid not. You're still stuck with us mere mortals."

"Guess you got the big fucker?"

"That we did. Didn't go down easy though."

"Figures. Everyone else make it out?"

"That one, yeah."

Brandt stared up at the ceiling. "How bad has it been? For that matter, how long was I out?"

"A little under a month and it's been kind of crazy. Even for us." She debated what to tell him, after all part of her orders had been to avoid upsetting him.

He eyeballed her. "Just spit it out."

"Doc Cuevas ordered me to not get you excited."

"I'm a big boy, I can take it."

Jane blew out her breath as she thought about it, then gave him a brief rundown. The muscles in his jaw bunched up when she told him about Jimmy's death, but she was very careful to keep the details from him. That would have definitely violated the doctor's orders.

"Damn, Jimmy. I always thought he'd go out for hitting on the wrong woman."

"Or hacking into the wrong system."

He smiled wistfully. "Or just opening his mouth at the wrong time."

She couldn't help the ragged chuckle and they reminisced about the hacker for a short time. It felt good to remember the crazy man and his antics.

In a natural lull of the conversation, Brandt finally got around to the question she'd been waiting for. "So what about me? Guess it's bad enough they want you to break it to me instead of one of the docs."

"It's not that bad, you still have use of all your limbs."

He made a face at her choice of words.

"You just need a lot of rehab to back into shape."

"I know you, Jane. There's still something you aren't saying."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Yeah. Commander's got plans."

Brandt perked up that. "Yeah? Like what?"

"Once you're back into shape, she wants you to start training troops. First here in HQ, then maybe other places depending on what the situation is like."

It was difficult not to grin at his stunned silence. He frowned. "Won't the rehab take a while?"

"According to Doc Cuevas, maybe a couple of weeks. They're going to pump you full of that regrowth stuff they cooked up to help speed things up."

That got her a stunned look. "Just a couple of weeks?"

"Well, the hip of Central's bad leg got broken. He was fully healed without a limp after a week. He's probably twice your age and none of the augmentations we've gotten so far…"

He gave a low, impressed whistle. "Well then. Guess we better get moving. Though I hope I'll be able to say goodbye to the others."

"Yep, but we're going to be in HQ for a bit anyway. Need to finish the repairs and cleaning this place up, but we've worked out a schedule for some time off. So folks can still visit as they wish."

Brandt held up trembling hand, he looked unusually serious. "Hope that'll include you."

Not quite sure what she was promising, Jane gripped it. "You know it."

He gave her an unusually warm smile. "Good."

Then he closed his eyes and dozed back to sleep.

She didn't let go of his hand, even as the others started to filter in to check on the patient.


	56. Chapter 56

_**April 11, 2035**_

 _ **11:00 Zona Centro**_

 _ **Mexican Countryside**_

For once letting the hot sunlight bake into her skin felt good.

After two days of hard physical labor following those days freezing her ass off… Oh who was she kidding?

After months of pure shit, it was good to lounge on the beach with a couple of friends. Sure, Van had given her people some down time when she could, but it'd always been on the Avenger or Resistance HQ. While the HQ was indeed turning into a proper small city, even if it was underground, it wasn't exactly a tourist destination. Despite what some of her people thought.

Instead of spending the rest of their downtime at HQ, they were at a former resort in northwestern Mexico to enjoy the sun for a couple of days courtesy of a local resistance cell in exchange for much needed medical supplies. It meant that all of her people got a break at once.

At least, that was the theory.

Even though the two women on either side of her were lounging in the sun, they were still watching over her.

Van supposed that was fair, since she was doing the same for them.

"So this is what sunbathing is like," Kadi mused.

"You don't sound impressed." Personally, Van had never really enjoyed the beach, too hot, too sticky, sand getting into unmentionable parts of the body. Not to mention having to deal with pale skin that was almost vampiric with the way it burned and peeled in the sun no matter how much, or strong, sun screen she slathered on herself.

Too many people crammed in a far too small of a space with the intent of cooking themselves alive.

She tried not to think about how empty the beach was outside of the three of them as well as odd groups further down the way. After all, John had left "orders" for her to relax and enjoy her day.

Not that she'd seen him. He was around doing… something, but he was being deliberately vague. The infuriating man just gave her a mental smirk whenever she gave him a poke. Of course she could have probed deeper, but that would be an extremely rude violation.

Besides, she liked his little personal surprises for her.

Kadi spoke slowly. "It's…not bad I guess. Just doesn't seem to have the excitement to it that I remember people talking about when I was a kid."

"Oh, I don't know," Jane replied from the other side of Van. She certainly seemed to have gotten the hang of sunbathing with the way she was browning up and sprawled out on her towel, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. It was strange to see her without the ballcap leaving her dark brown hair in a ponytail, it always seemed like it was a permanent part of the woman. "Laying around doing nothing, but drinking weird fruity drinks. That's pretty awesome."

There was a quiet snort of amusement from Kadi. "And you'd go out of your mind with boredom in a day or so."

Jane smiled slightly. "Probably, but for the moment? Not moving, not freezing my ass off. Especially not getting shot at. Pretty damn good."

"Excellent point."

For a time the three of them fell back into silence to enjoy the peace of sun, sea and breeze.

Except for the fact something was suddenly churning in Jane's head.

"You could think a little more quietly," Kadi grumbled. "I was starting to doze off."

"Sorry, was just wondering about something."

Van suspected she was going to regret it, but asked anyway. "What's up?"

"Considering what today is, and what I heard about my da and Uncle Duane did to you on your thirtieth, so I threatened to punt them off the observation deck of the Avenger while in flight if they tried. They just laughed."

Van's cheeks heated up at the memory of a bunch of drunken, naked soldiers trying to make a throne for her out of their bodies. She was no prude, but that was still a display she could have lived without.

Kadi sat up and asked, "What did they do to make you blush like that?"

"It involves my father so I'm not telling. Besides, I wasn't there for it, or the recipient," Jane said, her cheeks turning pink despite her tan.

Since Van didn't really want to verbally explain what happened, she lightly rapped on Kadi's mental barriers asking for permission to enter. Curiosity flowed out as the outermost barriers opened. Van delicately dropped the mental image of that rather memorable morning.

"Oh!" The blonde psi-operative laughed. "That was quite a sight. I can see why you didn't want a repeat." She gave Van a sly smile. "Unless there was a very private showing by someone else."

While Van would appreciate a private showing, she'd be afraid that John would hurt himself in the process. His age didn't bother her, but she had to keep it in mind. "If there was, it would be private. I don't kiss and tell."

The other two women snorted at the same time. Kadi smirked at her. "Don't need to, not when a certain someone has pretty much moved in with you."

Jane shook her head. "Anyway, before we got sidetracked by poking fun at Van's love life, what I wanted to know is how you struck the fear of you into my otherwise fearless father."

She laughed. "It wasn't intentional, but the timing worked out in my favor. Though you may not want to hear the story, it's somewhat gross."

"You're not wiggling out of it that easily, Van. We deal with gross shit all the time."

Kadi sipped the last of her drink and gave Van an expectant look.

"All right, don't say I didn't warn you. It started with one of our guys having this brilliant idea of making his great-grandma's award winning chili recipe as something different for dinner. I'm still not sure how he convinced the dragon in charge of the cafeteria to go along with the idea, but he did."

The two looked confused, but nodded for her to go on.

"it was quite good, but there were some rather unfortunate consequences to pretty much everyone's gastrointestinal tracts."

Both women paled beneath their tans and Kadi muttered. "Oh. Oh no."

"Oh yes. And I'm just getting started. Around the same time a group of jokers, including Adam and Duane, thought it would be hilarious to set up a bunch of sectoid corpses in Mission Control during a quiet night." They stared at her as she paused for breath. "Central was the first one on the scene."

It was the first, and only time, she'd ever seen John have what could be called _vapors_. She left out the fact that he had to be taken to the infirmary to make sure he was going to be all right. "Up until then, I didn't really hit them with any heavy duty punishment because their pranks were harmless and did a lot to help relieve tension. That stunt was just too far."

"I would have killed them and everyone else involved.' Jane growled. "That's worse than them putting something where it doesn't belong "

"I don't want to know." Van had a good idea where Jane was going and she didn't want to have that thought confirmed. Or worse, get details.

"Nope. So back to my da."

"Right. After Chili Night, maintenance needed help, there was a blockage somewhere in the sewage system and they needed extra eyes to look. I voluntold them to help."

"They didn't have sensors or drones or something to check."

Van gave her a sly smile. "I might have told them to use extra bodies instead."

The laughter from all three women was somewhat wicked. Van, still grinning, continued. "I didn't plan this part, maintenance might have, but they claim they didn't. However, our miscreants found the blockage and loosened it up like they were told to. For that, I did get on maintenance. I didn't want some of my best troops risking infection or worse considering the, ah, deluge of sewage."

Van couldn't help the way her nose wrinkled up at the too vivid memory of what the men had looked like when they emerged from the maintenance tunnels. Or the smell.

"No wonder da is terrified of pissing you off. Not that there's anything like that on the Avenger." Jane commented, torn between amusement and disgust. Kadi just shook her head in disgust.

"I mean it when I said that I didn't do it deliberately. That kind of thing is not how people should be treated."

The dark haired soldier rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully. "Don't know about that, Van. Some folks just need to get shit on to get the message. In some cases the shit needs to be literal."

Jane's expression suddenly changed to slack jawed astonishment as Kadi made a choking sound making Van almost afraid to look at John when he said, "Don't want to know what you're discussing."

When she did look, Van couldn't believe her eyes. If it weren't for her telepathy, she'd think it was someone else trying to pose as him. The floppy fisherman's hat on his head was bad enough on its own, but when combined with the rest of his outfit…

Someone had convinced him to put on a black Hawaiian shirt covered with little anti-alien signs. They reminded her of the one that had been on Big Sky's skyranger, but these were glow in the dark chartreuse and neon red. The ridiculous shirt topped a pair of Bermuda shorts that had stripes matching the colors of the shirt. At least he had a pair of sensible sandals on his feet.

The amusement she felt rolling off of him lit up his eyes and a corner of his mouth quirked up into a slight grin.

Jane said, "Well, Kadi, I think that's our cue."

"Yup. See you later, Van."

She stared after them in confusion as they strode off, then John. His grin broadened. "They did want to make up for the other day and it did me the favor of keeping you busy while I made arrangements."

"You were supposed to take the day off too."

"I am, this was for something fun. Besides, I'm not the one who was up half the night talking to resistance leaders."

"I seem to be the only one that they're willing to talk to. Really John, what have you been telling people about me?"

John shook his head and held out his hand to her to help her up, which she accepted and used the gentle momentum to lean up against him to give him a quick kiss. He held her close and kissed her back.

After he leaned back to smile again, she tugged at his shirt. "Do I want to know?"

He shifted around so he was at her side before putting his hand at her back to give her a gentle nudge to get moving. "I'll explain on the way."

Van wasn't entirely sure she did want to know with the waves of wicked amusement that was flowing out of him. Though when his hand slid from her back to the side of her waist, she put her arm around his back and leaned against, enjoying the moment.

"This is the result of a bet Shen made with me."

"I'm sorry I asked."

He laughed. "Actually, Shen lost. She bet me that I wouldn't wear this. If I did, she'd stop harassing me about how I pilot the Avenger."

God, these people didn't need a Commander. They needed a mother. Which seemed to fit right in with what she seemed to end up doing half the time. Even during the invasion. She shook her head slightly. "And if you didn't agree?"

"Something I'd rather not think about."

Van gave him the side eye, he gave her a weak smile in return. "Anyway, it's been good for morale."

"Good for morale," she repeated in a mutter. "How many shocked and confused people am I going to have to set right?"

"None. While I am a hardass on them, and for good reason, even I know when there's times to do something to break up the tension. This seemed like one of those times."

"I'm sorry for the presumption."

"Don't be, you have good reason for your concern."

She smiled back at him and decided to change the subject. "So where exactly are we going?"

"The Avenger, there's a surprise for your birthday. Shen came up with it."

The very thought made her stop dead in her tracks.

John just laughed, the evil bastard. Then he gave her another gentle shove. "Hey now, none of that. Been keeping an eye on things so there's no repeat of the last time. I'll be honest, not sure if you'll like it exactly, but I'm pretty sure you'll appreciate it."

"Not helping."

"I'll find a way to make it up to you later if I'm wrong."

"John," she started, then stopped. Van really didn't want to have a fight on a lovely day, even if it was starting to get uncomfortably warm.

"Would it help to say I already had plans for us for tonight? Including homemade chocolate."

"It does. And once again you know just how to bribe me" She leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I love you."

"Love you, too, angel." His hand drifted up along her back to her neck and began to gently rub, even as he nudged her along with his hip.

"All right," she laughed. "I'm moving."

His hand dropped away once they got closer to the ship which let her stop again at the buzz of excitement radiating from it. Van didn't bother to try to hide her dismay. Or the fact she was seriously considering running away.

"It'll be all right, I promise. Trust me." The earnest expression cut her to the quick.

She blew out her breath. "Of course I trust you. Some of our people do have some questionable judgement."

John nodded and waited with his usual patience for her.

"Okay, okay. Not some. Most."

He took her elbow. "Van. Seriously, it's fine. If we don't get moving, Shen will send a search party."

Wishing she was wearing more than just a one piece bathing suit, she resumed walking to the ship, not really looking forward to whatever the surprise was. Truthfully, she didn't like surprises because they rarely were good.

The crowd that greeted them didn't bode well since it looked like the entire crew of the ship had crammed themselves into the armory and the excess had spilled into the loading bay. All those excited minds felt close to being physical blows on her mind. It was a bit of a struggle to reinforce her mental barriers against the pressure.

Finally they made their way into the armory where Lily had positioned herself next to Van's locker. Or rather a large covered object that was positioned in front of her locker.

"Hey, Commander! Happy birthday!"

She smiled back, hoping it wasn't too strained. "Thank you. So what's all this?"

When Lily beamed she tried not to feel dread. "Your gift. Come and open it, I want to see what you think."

Curiosity warring with dread made her stomach lurch slightly, but she unhesitatingly reached out to pull away the cloth. She blinked. "Oh. It's. It's beautiful."

Oddly enough it was. Slickly gleaming, the armor looked nothing like what they'd had before. It looked like something out of one of futuristic sci-fi shooter. The body was black with a pale turquoise stripes running along the shoulders and down the outside of the arm, with matching stripes on the legs. Over the right breast was the XCOM badge and on the left the name Athena was stenciled.

The engineer's smile lit up the room. "It's our first powered armor, I call it the Warden model. I have plans for other types, but for now this works and it'll give our people superior protection. I wanted you to have the very first working set. Try it on!"

"Er, I am in a bathing suit, Chief."

"It's similar enough to what you'll be wearing under it normally that it shouldn't be a problem."

With Lily's guidance, she opened up the armor and the first thing she noted was that it was much easier to get into than the previous types. It cracked open, the wearer just slid in and it sealed into place. As she examined the systems, Van tilted her head in confusion. "Did you build a psi-amp into this?"

"Yeah, for you and the other psi-operatives. The suit has the power to spare and this gives you more room to carry other equipment."

"Thank you, it really is amazing. The work you and your people put into this."

"It's no throne, but I thought you'd like it."

Van couldn't help but laugh. It certainly made up for her thirtieth. Maybe turning fifty wasn't so bad after all.


	57. Chapter 57

_**April 14, 2035**_

 _ **05:00 Mountain Time Zone**_

 _ **Los Alamos, New Mexico**_

Thick grey smoke rose up from fires raging through the massive complex that was once known as Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Even though she'd seen so many scenes of destruction, a new one never failed to fill her with dismay.

Especially because it felt like it hadn't been that long ago since she spoke with Dr. Reyansh Patel, the head of the division that had been assigned to XCOM during the invasion. Her subconscious tripped her up once again by insisting that it was only a few months ago. In fact they'd discussed some of their research via teleconference just a few days before her capture.

Then she frowned as a thought struck her, driving away the brooding. Wasn't the lab supposed to already be in ruins? She could have also sworn that the brief the day before had mentioned no activity in the area. "Central?"

"Not sure what's going on. No one has heard of any kind of activity in the area."

Of course, as usual things weren't going as expected.

When the drones zoomed in for more details without her direction, Van nodded her approval. They were learning. All thoughts about the crew's performance vanished as the drones provided more details. There were long, horizontal streaks of fire in the smoke. "Could that be from flamethrowers? Are they even possible?"

Lily piped up over the comms. "Yeah, flamethrowers are possible, I can make some good ones actually, but given certain people, thought I'd leave them alone. And my guess is those are flamethrowers in action."

If they were actually getting paid, she'd give the engineer a raise right on the spot. Van cringed at the thought of Defcon with a flamethrower. "Thanks, Chief. I think."

There were multiple snorts of amusement in the room and over the comms. Including John's voice when he said, "Notified Menace 1-5 of the situation, Commander."

"Thank you. Are we picking up anything else to give us an idea of what's there?"

"Short bursts of encrypted transmissions, ma'am," Tucker answered. "It's not ADVENT or known Resistance cells."

Van pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought it over. They didn't have to do this mission. It was solely to satisfy curiosity to see if what Weir had told them was true and thus not important to their primary goal. On the other hand, it might let them test out the new Warden armor in a non-critical situation. So left it up to Shieldmaiden.

" _I agree that it is a good test, Commander –"_

Defcon's squeal of excitement in the background cut her off. _"Did the Commander say there were_ flamethrowers _?"_

" _I don't need to be psychic to know that's such a bad idea,"_ Prophet replied.

Cyber agreed. _"Yeah and I'm not patching you up when the thing inevitably explodes."_

Shieldmaiden snorted. _"Guess that's our answer, ma'am. If it proves too hot to handle we'll do an emergency extract."_

"All right." She just hoped the grenadier didn't get her grubby paws on a flamethrower. That really was a terrible idea.

Firebrand spoke up. _"Going to have to use the secondary landing site. The primary is the current hot zone."_

"Of course." That response covered so many aspects of the current mission. Including the fact it was already going off the rails before her people were even on the ground.

At least the squad was able to land without any incoming fire. Then Slinger coughed and gagged. _"Ugh. What's that smell? It's not the smoke."_

It was little disturbing to hear Cyber calmly respond. "Smells like those pods at that blacksite."

Yup, it was going to be ugly. Which reminded her of the latest addition that they picked up in Mexico. "Dr. Sano, you may not want to be here for this. It's likely to be extremely unpleasant."

From her station, Ayane Sano shook her head. The gesture barely shifted her glossy black hair that curled around her face. "No, if I'm going to assist your people, I need to know what they face. I will leave if it gets to be too much."

Van just hoped that what was about to happen wouldn't scare the woman off, not when they finally got a psychologist that was willing to act as a therapist to the crew. Particularly one specialized in trauma.

Then she put their latest addition out of her mind as her people on the ground approached the intended target. They took up defensive positions as something moved in the smoke. When the first figured emerged into view, Van couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Beside her, John muttered. "What the hell is that?"

She shook her head speechlessly, then Shieldmaiden asked over the comms. _"Commander, are you seeing this shit?"_

"Oh, I'm seeing it all right."

And she was. The creature that emerged looked like something she'd seen in a movie or game. A gaunt, shambling humanoid figure with faintly luminescent green skin that offset the brighter lime green eyes. _Glowing_ green eyes. Van's mind stuttered over what it reminded her off.

The howl it gave voice to was bonechillingly familiar and wasn't remotely similar to any alien they'd ever faced. She exchanged disbelieving looks with John as other howls echoed in response.

Tygan asked over the comms, _"Is, is that a_ zombie? _"_

" _Sure looks like one,"_ Lily replied.

John planted his fists on his hips and glared at the screen. "It doesn't look like a chryssalid zombie from the old days."

"No, it doesn't." She screwed up her face, she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "Menace 1-5, if that thing is anything like the zombies from the movies, no explosives and aim for the head."

Of course Defcon had to question part of her orders. _"No explosives? Why?"_

"Because loud noises will attract even more of them. Which is probably going to be a terrible idea."

" _Yes, Commander."_

Thank god, she was finally getting through Defcon's thick skull.

Shieldmaiden took over. _"I'll take the first one to see how tough they are."_

"All right." At least Shieldmaiden would be honest about difficulty and, more importantly, not make a lot of noise while dealing with it.

Van crossed her arms as she watched the ranger silently make her way to the creature. It sniffed the air again, looking around for the approaching woman, but didn't see her. It didn't make a sound as her blade went down on its head in an overhand chop. The resulting thunk didn't sound as…wet as normal.

The gore that sprayed out of the wound reminded Van of the time she moved into a new apartment and discovered that the previous tenants hadn't cleaned out the vegetable bins and the veggies had decomposed into a thick, vile liquid of utter putridness. That the landlord hadn't checked beforehand didn't surprise her, he'd been a lazy asshole.

Hearing Shieldmaiden gag made her grateful she wasn't there after all. The ranger said in between gasps. _"Guys, don't engage in melee with them. They smell worse on the inside."_

The fervent agreement from the rest of the squad caused her to smile slightly.

Firebrand grumbled. _"I'm going to have to decon my bird again, aren't I?"_

"Settle down everyone, you have more incoming."

That was putting it mildly. A veritable horde was rush the squad's position.

A raspy male voice spoke over an open channel. _"Unknown soldiers, do_ not _use explosives. It will make things…worse."_

"Ah, thank you for the information."

" _We need to speak after the infestation has been dealt with."_

"We'll see how this goes first." She had to admit, she was curious about the unknown forces. Maybe it was one of the independent groups Valley had mentioned briefly in the past.

" _Agreed."_ There was a click over the line

Tygan muttered. _"I can't believe we're dealing with actual_ zombies now _."_

The Commander ignored the scientist's comments, her focus narrowed down to the actions of the squad on the screen before her and the salient information that Central was providing from the side.

The creatures didn't act like the slow moving, dull witted creatures that had been so prevalent in the popular culture she was familiar with. Yes, some just shambled along, but too many were fast moving and displaying a kind of feral cunning.

Fortunately animal cunning and swiftness were no match for a well-armed and trained squad of fighters. Claws scraped futility against armored torsos and jaws chewed uselessly on reinforced gauntlets. Not that many got through the hail of laser fire that was being laid down.

Van mentally shook her head. Life really had become a bad B movie. Laser guns and zombies? Really?

She didn't let her internal musings distract her from her job, though there wasn't a lot she needed to do in this particular situation. Her people worked well together and the creatures weren't exactly a major threat. Even if there were a massive number of them swarming the squad.

Then Flashbang stepped out of the general melee to send electricity arcing through the nearest zombies, clearing out a good handful. She made a note to herself to congratulate the psi-operative on the fact she didn't use her hands to use her power, instead holding onto her rifle so that she could smoothly resume firing the weapon when she no longer need to focus on her psionic attack.

Meanwhile Slinger was calmly laying down covering fire from the precarious perch on a burned out ruin of a building. Cyber and Byte, the rather unfortunate callsign for Naidoo, were picking off the stragglers on the outskirts of the pack.

Despite her griping about the stench, Shieldmaiden continued to lay about with her sword rather than using her gun, lopping off heads or bashing them. There was a quiet sound of disgust from Dr. Sano from the side when the ranger took half the head off of one of the creatures.

She ignored the woman, if it was too much she could leave the room.

Though all in all, the fight didn't take very long. Not even in comparison to what they usually dealt with.

Byte sent her gremlin to check the area. _"So far nothing else close to us. There's some distant lifesigns. Might be the guy who signaled us earlier."_

"Any idea of what they are?"

" _Too far out for my gremlin, ma'am."_

"Not your fault, keep up the scan while proceeding to the objective."

While Shieldmaiden got Menace 1-5 moving again, Van spared a glance for their guest. The doctor was pale and tight lipped, but appeared to be holding up for the moment. Then she returned her attention to the situation on the screens before her and started to brood about the situation again.

John touched her elbow to get her attention. "Think we might have something, Commander."

"Okay, what do you have?"

The scene on one of the side screens changed to armored figures milling around the corpses of dead zombies. The armor was disturbingly familiar. "Are you sure you aren't picking up ADVENT transmissions?"

"Positive, ma'am," one of the techs replied.

"They don't look like they're in standard ADVENT equipment." John said thoughtfully.

He did have a point. Unlike the typical high gloss black with red symbols, the armor was in a variety of colors and showed signs of hard use with no sign of the ADVENT insignia. Even more tellingly, the helmets were completely sealed.

Maybe it was repurposed ADVENT armor in the same manner that XCOM had. She had a difficult time believing ADVENT would allow such individuality. Not to mention they would never let their shiny armor remain in such condition. Must keep up appearances after all.

Since she had nothing else to add, she just nodded her agreement.

Until Tucker spoke up. "Um, Commander, those unknown soldiers are moving towards the objective."

As if that was such a big surprise. Shieldmaiden echoed a similar sentiment when informed.

It didn't take the squad long to get near their location. As they paused to figure out what their plan was going to be, the comms crackled to life with a different voice. _"Unknown soldiers. Do not approach any closer until you state your intent."_

Shieldmaiden answered this time. _"We didn't know anyone was here, our information was that it was abandoned. We're here to look for some old information."_

The original male voice spoke. _"Only if we can meet with your leader. There are things that can only be discussed face to face."_

This time Van replied. "I'm willing to meet, but there are security conditions that have to be discused first."

" _I wouldn't expect anything else."_

It was disturbingly easy to make the arrangements for the meeting. The entire time she got the impression that it was merely a formality. Yet, it didn't feel like a trap, even though it should have.

"Feel like I should know that voice," John mused as he kept her company while she suited up. "But can't place from where."

At least the new Warden powered armor was easier to get into than the old, modified ADVENT armor, it required a lot less wiggling on her part. "Well, you have worked with a lot of people over the years. Maybe Shieldmaiden will have more for you to work off after she's talked with these people."

"Yeah." He sighed, then reached to touch her cheek with the tips of his fingers before she sealed her helmet. "Be careful and don't forget the codes we worked out."

She leaned into the touch as much as she could. "I will be." Then she laughed a little. "As for the codes, how could I forget with how weird our lives have become?"

John chuckled weakly, shook his head and stepped back to let her helmet close up.

Van took up her shotgun and sword then headed out to see what this newest group wanted. Hopefully they'd prove to be interested in being allies.


	58. Chapter 58

_**April 14, 2035**_

 _ **06:11 Mountain Time Zone**_

 _ **Los Alamos, New Mexico**_

Menace 1-5 was waiting for her outside of the entrance of the meeting location with Shieldmaiden in the lead. Athena was glad the new helmet completely hid her face so that it would hide her astonished expression when the ranger saluted her.

Even as she returned the gesture, she quickly swept the area for any foreign influences on her people, but didn't pick up on anything. "What's going on, Shieldmaiden?"

"They seem like a formal bunch, so I was trying to fit in."

"All right, what else can you tell me?"

"That's about it. Flashbang reports no hostile attitudes, if anything they seem cautiously hopeful."

Athena shook her head at that, but didn't say anything. There was no point in arguing with the couple decades' worth of propaganda put out by John.

Shieldmaiden flashed her a sympathetic grin from beneath her visor and went on with her briefing. "The room that we'll be meeting in is separate from the rest of their base. Byte and Cyber have assured me that there's no hidden surprises in the place. It's just some old meeting room that sees a lot of use."

"So we invaded someone's base of operations?"

"Looks that way. For what it's worth, they aren't coming off as angry about it though. I think we eased some pressure off them by dealing with that swarm of zombies."

Athena shook her head in disbelief. Zombies. She just hoped it wasn't another impending disaster. She felt ridiculous asking, but she had to because the end of the fight was hectic that she couldn't see everything. "Did anyone get bit?"

"Defcon did, but she's fine. No signs of infection or turning green and going crazy." Shieldmaiden coughed. "Well, no crazier than she already is. I don't think they're that kind of zombie."

"Good." She still couldn't believe they were seeing zombies. What was next? Vampires? Werewolves? More likely some other fucked up thing she couldn't think of at the moment.

Then she felt the presence of others and said quietly. "Look alive, our hosts are coming."

The appearance of the five people approaching them had her mentally frowning. They were in modified ADVENT armor, what appeared to be genuinely from ADVENT and not the modified equipment they'd been using up until a few days ago. Through the scuff marks and the dents, she could see hints of the original black paint scheme.

It was interesting to see that the helmets had been modified to be completely sealed. Was that to protect the wearers from the environment? Or something more sinister?

Her cautious, feather light probe did confirm what Flashbang had told Shieldmaiden. Their hosts gave off cautious hope and no signs of enmity. Though they were hiding something and their minds were odd. Human, but… other at the same time.

So when the leader of the five man group held out his gauntleted hand in greetings, she clasped it in return to show she was willing to try to play nice.

The voice that issued forth was a deep rumble that was distorted by the armor. "Call me Pratham."

Something about that name tickled the back of her mind, but she dismissed it since that tickle came from her childhood and therefore wasn't important at that moment. Because she wasn't sure of what reception she'd get if she used her real name, she fell back on her callsign. "Please call me Athena."

"Athena," he said slowly. "It is good to meet you. If you and your people will come with me."

She nodded and let Pratham lead the way. Interestingly, his people went with him, none flanking her people or to their rear.

Still puzzling over the situation, she entered the room after the odd hosts with Menace 1-5 flanking her.

"It is good to finally meet you, Commander." Pratham said as he removed his helmet.

Panic overwhelmed her as she got a good look at what was hiding under the armor as the door closed behind them with a solid thunk cutting off all outside communications.

 _She would not be taken again._

Unsure if she could trust her squad, but not wanting to hurt them, she swept everyone around up in a firm telekinetic grip. Though her grip on the ADVENT troopers was perhaps a bit more than just firm.

Athena leveled her shotgun at Pratham as she debated how they were going to get out of this trap. He wheezed. "Peace. Mean. No harm. Test. Me."

Flashbang spoke up, proving that she was smart enough to realize that trying to reach Athena telepathically would have been a bad idea at that moment. "He means it, Athena."

After a quick, cautious probe of Flashbang, she took the chance. There was a little fear at his situation, but no anger. If anything his mind was full of awe. That was still disturbing, but he wasn't a threat, nor where his people.

Though it did take a bit of an internal debate to finally let her gun fall to her side on its combat sling before gently putting everyone back on their feet. While they straightened themselves out, she removed her helmet and attached to the side opposite her shotgun. "I want to apologize for my actions, Pratham. I over reacted."

His head tilted to the side in a manner that was distinctly _alien_ and repulsive. She was going to have overcome that gut feeling. Not just dealing with these people, but any non-human in the future. "I think there were misunderstandings on both our parts, Commander. I thought your psion would have told you what we are ahead of time."

Flashbang shook her head. "You don't feel like the ADVENT troopers you appear to be."

An odd rumbling sound came out of him and it took her a moment to realize he was chuckling. "Oh, we are former slaves to the False Gods. It is a bit of a story though. If you want, we can sit and discuss this."

"I would, but I need to stay in contact with our people."

It was hard to read his expression, but his mind reflected surprise. "Now it is my turn to apologize, Commander. Take a seat and my people will get you patched in."

"Ah. Thank you." The whole situation had gone beyond surreal into bizarre. How could they be so calm?

When Pratham and she sat down on opposite sides of the table, their respective squads took places around the room. Hands were ostentatiously kept away.

Though there were two exceptions. Defcon cornered the trooper with the flamethrower and the two were having a heart to heart chat over the weapon. She knew she should get the grenadier to pay attention, but really, she was more than covered by the others and if Defcon, of all people, was breaking the ice, well, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

Her comms abruptly crackled to life with John trying not to sound frantic. _"Commander, please tell me you can hear me."_

"I hear you, Central. Life is as weird as ever. You're not going to believe how weird it is."

" _Had me worried there for a bit."_

"I know and I'm sorry about that. I'll explain in a bit."

" _Doesn't seem like your fault. Are those what I think they are?"_

"I really meant it when I said life was weird."

" _No shit. Going back to observation only."_

She returned to Pratham. "Thank you for the timely set up."

"Of course. We understand the importance of remaining in contact with the rest of our people." He hesitated as his own comms came to life, then he spoke to her rather than the person on the other end. "Before we begin our discussion, I was reminded of human courtesy. Is there any kind of refreshment you would like? Coffee? Food?"

"Thank you, but we're good for now." She found the awkwardness to be oddly charming which helped her overcome her aversion to what he had once been. Athena knew that she'd still have to be careful with how she dealt with these people, trying to keep in mind her prejudice towards them.

He tilted his head in thought, then nodded. "Very well then. There are some information you should be aware of at the start."

She could probably pick it out of his brain, but that would be a horrific violation, since he didn't radiate threat, Athena asked, "Such as?"

"My people are the ones who brought word of your location to the Resistance. We knew that getting you away from the False Gods would infuriate them and cause them some difficulty. There had been some hope that you might make a difference, but not what you've actually done."

Why did everyone keep acting like she was doing everything? All she'd really done was getting people moving in the same direction. It wasn't like trying to herd gamers in a raid. Despite the saying about cats, gamers were so much more difficult. Cats were easily bribable. "I am grateful for that then. So I'm going to guess you recognized who we were from the start."

"Yes. We wanted to see how your people would handle themselves." He spared a glance over at Defcon and her new buddy. "I'm quite pleased that they listened how to handle the Lost."

Since it seemed like the troublemaker wasn't causing it yet, "That's what those…zombie like things are?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He sighed. A very human sound full of emotion. His mind roiled with the same, even though she wasn't trying to actively read him. "My people think they're result of the initial assault by the False Gods upon your world, but we don't have the means to verify."

Athena considered what he was saying. It was quite possible. Things had been so hectic then, she'd been more focused on what they could do to win that she didn't have time to have Vahlen's crew test those pods, but there was something else she wanted to clarify first. "False Gods, you mean the ethereals?"

She winced at using her own term for them. She just had a difficult time calling them by their preferred honorific. "What everyone calls the Elders?"

"Yes." Anger and disgust filled his voice as well as the minds of the other, still silent, troopers. "They see themselves as Gods to those that are beneath them and act as such." A corner of his mouth curled up into an evil smile. "I like your term though. Ethereal. Implies delicacy. Fragility. Not long for this world."

"While there's a lot I'd like to find out about, and I hope you won't take it the wrong way." Because she had time to gauge their thoughts and feelings, Athena was well aware that they didn't react to things the same way humans would.

"If it is the intentions of the Ethereals, the False Gods, I'm afraid I can only give conjecture based off the orders we received while in their thrall. Between their disdain for us and the flood of psionic energy that washed everything else away, we do not have a lot of details to provide."

She had a strong feeling they were really not going to like hearing about the Avatar Project. "We have actually figured that out and I will tell you those details, but I'm really wondering how you got out of the control of the ethereals."

Pratham paused, listening to his comms, then nodded a little to himself as the rest of his people exchanged uneasy glances. Even Defcon's buddy paused in his conversation to look at his leader. "If you are willing to go to our main base, there is someone there who would like to meet with you. I'll explain on the way there."

" _It's up to you, Commander, but I think this is too valuable an opportunity to pass up on."_ John commented in her ear as she thought about.

Pratham and the people with him didn't give any indication of hostility, but she couldn't be sure about those waiting for them in the main base, wherever that was.

Flashbang whispered into her mind: _Shieldmaiden is confident we can shoot our way out if we have to._

Wasn't that just fantastic? Athena just hoped her people weren't feeling _too_ bloodthirsty. _Play nice_ , she replied.

 _Yes, Commander._

Resisting the urge to rub her temples in the vain effort to stem the incipient headache, Athena made up her mind. "All right, Pratham, let's go for a walk and talk."

"Thank you, Commander." The gratitude in his voice and mind were troubling.

She put it to the back of her mind as they filed out of the room and it was interesting to see that it didn't take much for the two sets of soldiers to coordinate their movements. At least her people were willing to play nice to their odd hosts.

When she saw that Pratham didn't draw any of his weapons, trusting their combined forces to deal with any problems, Athena followed his lead, though she didn't need to be prompted to put her helmet back on. Since she wasn't sure where to start with all the questions bubbling in her mind, she remained silent as they made their way across the blasted ruins.

Or what appeared to be blasted ruins.

Now that she was on the ground and could get a better look, especially with the sun starting to rise above the horizon, she could see faint signs of habitation. Yes, most of the place was destroyed, but not all of it. Not by a long shot.

Her guide spoke up. "As I mentioned before, my people's memories are hazy from our time in servitude. We only became ourselves when the control chip malfunctioned."

She drew a sharp breath at that. Tygan had speculated about it, but hadn't been able to confirm. Tygan muttered something, but it sounded like he didn't intend for her to respond so she didn't say anything to him. Pratham asked, "You weren't aware?"

"Only conjecture, nothing definitive."

He nodded. "It probably isn't easy to tell if you aren't able to study an active chip. The False Gods are uncertain of how tight their grasp is upon our minds. Rightly so. When are freed from their clutch, a number do turn away." He sighed. "Though to be honest, many do not, afraid to leave what is familiar."

"So how do you get free?"

"For some, the chip failed. Either because of a flaw in manufacturing or got damaged in some way." Pratham lapsed into silence for a moment and she let him while she thought over the implications. If they could figure out a way to disable those chips en masse, it would at the least let them cause major disruptions for ADVENT.

Pratham continued. "I am one of the exceptions. A scientist found the means to disable the chip." He chuckled, an already harsh sound further distorted by his helmet. "Though I was near death at the time. I would say it was the damage I had taken if not for the fact it has worked on healthy individuals."

Tygan sounded almost frantic. _"If you do nothing else, Commander, find out how they did that."_

"Do you know where the scientist is now?" She fervently hoped it wasn't Vahlen.

"Yes, he's here in fact. If you'll come over here, he's waiting to meet with you." He guided her over to a door set in a particularly ramshackle building. Looks proved deceiving since the interior was a down sloping, reinforced tunnel. After a short walk they arrived at a massive blast door.

The door slid to the side with a hiss of hydraulics and a loud thunk. The room it revealed was reminiscent of Vahlen's old lab, but what caught her attention was the badly scarred, old man seated in a motorized wheelchair waiting for them. The smile he gave her was familiar, but she couldn't place from where. "Hello, Commander. It's been a long time, but it's good to finally meet you."

She extended a delicate mental probe and was not exactly surprised that he had some sort of mindshield in place. Though given where they were, she hazarded a guess. "Dr. Patel?"

The smile broadened. "Indeed, I'm surprised you recognized me. Please, come in and make yourself comfortable. We have a lot to discuss."


	59. Chapter 59

_**April 14, 2035**_

 _ **06:53 Mountain Time Zone**_

 _ **Los Alamos, New Mexico**_

The doctor raised a trembling hand out to her in greeting. Not wanting to be rude, Van removed her right gauntlet before she delicately clasped it. For the first time she was aware of just how strong she was in comparison to another person, so she took extra care in how she shook the doctor's frail hand. His smile lit up his eyes. "You're definitely a sight for these old, sore eyes."

She wasn't sure what to say to that. "I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

He released her hand, then moved his wheelchair back a little so he could look into her eyes without craning his neck. "It's a dark time, Commander, but it sounds like your people are turning things around out there." Then he made a beckoning gesture before turning his chair around. "Let me give you the nickel and dime tour while we talk."

"All right, lead on."

John muttered into her ear. _"Christ, I can't believe he's still around. Why hasn't he gotten in touch?"_

She didn't respond, but figured that there were probably multiple reasons why and mulled over how to bring everything up that was swirling in her head. Van was many things, but a diplomat wasn't one of them. She decided to just focus on the tour and introductions rather than worry about that.

On closer inspection the lab was much like the Avenger, a mix of human and alien tech, all of it having seen better days, but still kept in excellent repair. It didn't escape her notice that there were plenty of unmarked doors that remained closed and unexplained. That was all right. If she were giving a tour of the Avenger to a would-be ally, she'd be doing the same.

Still it gave her an idea of what they were dealing with and she was impressed. It was easy to see they'd been at this a long time. Since the doctor was quiet as they walked down a long hall, she finally ventured one of the many questions. "If I might ask, why aren't you a part of the Resistance? They could've used your knowledge."

He gave her a half smile, all that his scarred face was capable of. "A good question. Up until a few months ago, they were a disorganized mess. They've gotten better, but I wasn't sure how they'd react to my friends. That worry did include you, Commander."

"I'm sure my reaction earlier bore your fears out."

The doctor laughed briefly. "You were much better than I expected. When Pratham pulled off his helmet, I thought he'd signed the death warrant for his entire squad."

"She was going to find out eventually, my friend" the trooper rumbled. "Better to do it when there were fewer at risk. Besides, it seemed rude to continue talking to her with the helmet on."

Van smiled at that. John snorted quietly in her ear while the doctor shook his head in bemusement. "So there you have it, Commander."

"Thank you. Though if you knew XCOM was around, why didn't you at least try to get in touch with Central?"

The doctor abruptly stopped his wheelchair and stared at her with a stunned expression. "Bradford's alive?"

She was surprised at his reaction. "But... you sent word about my location to them, I thought…"

He shook his head. "I'd heard rumors about XCOM from time to time, but never anything about Bradford specifically. I let the Resistance know in case there was anything they could do about you."

Well, at least one person had been willing to consider her a threat instead of some mythical messiah.

He ruined that thought as he blithely continued. "Ideally, to rescue you like they did."

Something in her expression must have betrayed her feelings because he reached out and lightly patted her arm. "Honestly, I expected they'd have to kill you to keep you out of ADVENT's hands."

That was a relief in an odd sort of way.

"Anyway, on a less morbid topic. Why don't we discuss this over breakfast? It's not fancy, but it's filling."

"It's appreciated as long as we won't be straining your supplies."

"You aren't. If it's feasible, why not have Bradford join?"

Not with the flight time that required. "Maybe another time, it'll take too long for him to get here."

Curiosity glinted in his eyes. "How intriguing."

Catching a whiff of her favorite beverage, she smiled. "I'll explain over coffee."

He chuckled. "I see your infamous love of the stuff is still alive and well. If you'll follow me."

As his chair buzzed down the hall to the cafeteria, there were quiet murmurs of surprise among his people. It sounded like they weren't used to seeing him laugh like that. Unfortunately, like in John's case, he probably didn't have a lot to laugh about.

Van deeply regretted what she was about to tell them. Pratham and his people in particular.

They had to know they were grown in vats. What they probably didn't know was the source of the genetic material wasn't voluntary. So how did you tell a person that they were created from people who had been gruesomely killed then rendered down to make their kind? Even if she left out the terrible experiments done by their former masters, they had to know about their part in Project Avatar.

So while the two men discussed the recent incursion of Lost, Van listened, drank coffee and brooded.

Once the report wound down, Patel asked her. "So what question would you like to start off with?"

Van couldn't help smiling slightly at the way he said his question and decided on an easy one. "Maybe the obvious one. So what exactly happened to you, Doctor?"

He raised his mug in return before replying. "This lab was one of the last places the aliens bombed after XCOM HQ got overrun and the surrender was made. I was… fortunate, if you could call it that, to survive the blast. Not many of my colleagues could say the same." He blew out his breath. "Truth is, most of the people here started as refugees and have done what they can to keep things going."

"From what I can see, it looks like you've all done a good job."

"Thank you." Patel leaned forward to stare at her intently. "Now it's my turn to ask the obvious. What brought you here, Commander? I highly doubt it was our on and off Lost problems."

"It was to satisfy my curiosity about some intel we were given, but I guess that was a bust." That was a bigger disappointment than she expected. Some part of her had been hoping that Asaru and Weir had been honest with them. They would've been useful allies. Ally. Whatever it was they were becoming.

The doctor leaned back in his chair with a quietly satisfied. "Ah, yes."

"Excuse me?"

Pratham made an exasperated sound. "He's been dying to have a new audience for this."

There were a mixture nods and winces from the rest of the former ADVENT. Patel gave them a rueful look. "I may have expounded on our findings a bit too often." He touched a button on the arm of his wheelchair and suddenly Van could sense his mind. "Since you check out, Commander."

She nodded. Trust but verify. A Russian proverb that was often overused, but was far too apt for her life and long before XCOM.

"When a survey was done to see if it would be possible to expand our underground facilities something was found. A large chamber that wasn't on any of our plans for the facility and filled with items that appeared to date back to the 60s."

John drew a sharp breath over the comms. He muttered, more to himself than to Van. _"Holy shit, they were telling the truth."_

Patel continued on, unaware of John's mutterings. "The documentation was well preserved, but the equipment in there didn't fare so well."

Van clenched her hands together so she resisted the urge to grab, and likely dent, the edge of the table. "Was it about a secret invasion from that time?"

Shock rippled through the room as Patel frowned at her. "Just how did you know?"

"I hope you have plenty of coffee and you don't mind my people coming in after all. This is going to take some time to explain."

"Of course. Though how are they arriving? This skyranger seems smaller than the previous."

She grinned at him. "Let me tell you about the Avenger."

The smile faded as the talk shifted from the Avenger to the Avatar Project, which she did leave out the experimentation part, and the strange merger between Asaru and Weir.

The information dump wasn't entirely one sided, the Los Alamos cell had some information on the Lost and how they disrupted the control chips. The device was similar to their skulljack, but instead of hacking the network, their "chipjack" hacked the chip itself.

Patel and Pratham were called away after that, leaving her to brood alone again. Since the Los Alamos base was declared a secure location, her people had scattered to coordinate with the newest members of the Resistance.

The implications of the chipjack just added to the burden she was feeling. When one of the psi-operatives took over the mind of a trooper, was that because of the chip? Were they crushing the minds of people who wanted to be free?

"Commander?" She looked up to see one of the former ADVENT troopers standing near her. The not quite human face wasn't so disturbing after talking with the woman's fellows for a time.

"Yes?"

"The doctor wants you to see something."

"All right. Lead on" It was better than working herself up over something out of her control.

It was remarkable what kind of difference a couple of hours could make. There were more people going about their business. This time the minds around her were full of more curiosity than wariness.

The trooper brought her to a rough command center where Patel's wheelchair was flanked by Pratham to the left and John on the doctor's right. The emotions in the room swirled with fear, excitement, and a certain amount of bloodlust. That included John. Which was both intriguing and concerning. "What's going on?"

John answered for them. "One of the aliens scout ships has been patrolling the area. Not sure what they're looking for, but I'm told they have a way to bring it down. Haven't done it before this because they weren't sure they could field enough people."

"But between them and us, we can."

He nodded and waited.

She didn't need them to tell her what it mean if they could do that. Not only would it strike a blow against the aliens themselves, even the smallest scout ship would provide a lot of necessary supplies. So there was only one answer she would give to this proposal.

"Do it."


	60. Chapter 60

_**April 15, 2035**_

 _ **18:38 Mountain Time Zone**_

 _ **New Mexico Countryside**_

It was one thing to see one of the aliens' ships on screen. It was quite another to see one with your own eyes. Even if it was one of the 'small' scout ships.

The vessel was the classic disc shape, comparable in size to the first floor of a good sized office building, and if the layout was the same as the ones during the invasion, probably had as many small rooms.

Athena crouched behind a scrubby fir of some sort as she switched her focus from the ship to the patrols of muton pairs circling the downed craft. Except for Slinger, the rest of the team silently made their way to get into place for the ambush. She wasn't sure what prompted her to lead this personally, but since no one objected there she was.

In fact, the Skirmishers, the name Pratham's people used for themselves, were quite pleased she was there with them.

Because she wasn't exactly eager to get her hands dirty, she chose to stay near Slinger's position which gave the two a clear view of the area illuminated by the setting sun. It felt strange to be in the rear, but there were two reasons. First, she wanted to see how her people and the Skirmishers would work together. Secondly… after her little demonstration, Patel had wanted to see what she could do with her powers on the battlefield, a desire seconded by Tygan. Even John had expressed curiosity.

Powers. That was still so weird. Especially when describing herself. It was something that belonged in a comic book.

She looked down at the ship again, what had once been called an Unidentified Flying Object. Still a UFO to some, but they weren't unidentified anymore, were they?

It should be fiction, but it was too real.

Slinger commented. "Looks like that Shadow Chamber still works."

That got Athena to gather her wits and she gave the sniper a sharp look. Slinger wasn't the type to make idle chatter. "What is it?"

The other woman squinted down her scope. "See lots of mutons, but no sign of the unknown critter it picked up on."

That was one of the downsides to the Chamber. It gave them numbers, but if they hadn't previously encountered one of the alien types, they had no way of translating the information into something a human could understand.

"It's probably still in the ship." Athena replied thoughtfully. Still it wouldn't hurt to do a quick search, and swept the area with her mind. All she could sense were the mutons, the ship itself was a blank spot in her mental map.

The report from the Chamber had indicated a couple of sectoids, but since she didn't feel their presence in the area, Athena felt safe enough to mentally reach out to Firecracker and Prophet. _Can't penetrate the ship. What about the two of you?_

Prophet was the first to reply. _No can do, Boss Lady._ _I also don't have your telepathic strength._

A moment later Firecracker responded with a similar negative. It had been worth a shot to try. Athena's mind still worried over the situation as she sent out a terse warning to the squad. The bestial minds of the aliens below were warily alert, but not to the degree she had expected.

It wasn't every day one of their ships was brought down by the Resistance, so why were they treating this like an everyday matter?

She'd seen backwater ADVENT roadblocks that had been more alert.

Something stank more than the usual reek that accompanied the aliens. Probably whatever was lurking inside the ship.

Not wanting to abort the mission after the effort the Skirmishers had put into it, Athena sent out a quick warning over the temporary network set up between her people and Pratham's. Acknowledgements rolled in as the last of the team got into position.

Athena nodded to herself, then said to Slinger, "Let's get this party started."

The sniper grinned without looking away from her scope, then slowly pulled the trigger on her rifle. Ruby red light lanced out, spearing a muton in one eye. Athena telepathically seized the mind of the alien's partner and made it fire on one of the other patrols.

The shot missed and it shook off her grip, but she'd achieved her goal to wreak havoc among her enemies.

More importantly, they fell into the patterns she expected from past encounters with the brutes. So she grabbed her victim again, this time telekinetically, and fuck that thing was _heavy_. Athena supposed that she should have known that an angrily squirming alien would be harder to lift than an unresistant squad of humanoids.

That weigh served her purpose as a battering ram even better. Bowling ball was more accurate the way the rest of the aliens were scattered.

Maybe next time she'd listen to Cyber about trying to drop a tree on them, but the scrubby things in the area were probably less dense than the mutons themselves.

Sadly it didn't knock down as many as she'd hoped, but it caused enough confusion for her people to get in some solid shots.

It was funny to see it go sailing through the air with its arms and legs flopping about helplessly. Probably to be filed under "Things That Shouldn't Be Laughed At". Even if telekinetically launching something of that weight was mentally tiring.

Byte interrupted her mental giggles. _"A distress signal just activated. Suppressing it for now, but not sure for how long. While I'm doing that, I can't do anything else with my gremlin."_

Instantly serious, she asked, "Can you locate the source and disable it?"

" _Yes."_

" _I can get her there, Athena,"_ Pratham said.

"Go ahead."

" _I'll provide backup."_ Cyber commented

"Good idea."

The rest of Menace 1-5 continued to fire at the enemies outside of the ship, maneuvering to avoid the return fire the best they could. The mutons attempted to charge members of the raid, but they wisely refused to engage in melee with the monsters. Mutons were at their most dangerous in hand-to-hand fighting.

One of the Skirmishers shot the legs out from under the one barreling toward Shieldmaiden. The ranger finished it off with a shotgun blast to the face.

Firecracker laughed, living up to her callsign, when she remotely set off some of the grenades carried by the aliens to erupt in an impressive display of plasma. The one in the center of the explosion was the only one to go down, but the remaining three were looking pretty crispy around the edges.

The aliens scattered in different directions, sending out a hail of covering plasma fire that forced her people to hunker down for cover which gave the aliens some breathing room.

But that didn't last long as the Skirmishers, with Prophet and Shieldmaiden, maneuvered around them to finish off the aliens.

" _Athena, we have a problem."_ Byte's voice sounded terrified over the comms.

Before Athena could ask what was going on an electronically warped bellow erupted. Followed by a loud mechanical thumping that didn't belong to a sectopod. She quite frankly couldn't believe her eyes at what burst out of the wall of the ship that reminded her of a much more benign, pitcher shaped, giant from commercials.

For a moment, Athena thought it was an ancient diving suit that had been modified for the aliens' purpose until a second look revealed major differences. Aside from the size, which was easily two to three times the average human, the glowing yellow dome that replaced the head, most of the shoulders and chest, was the most obvious clue that it was something very different.

Instead of a container of cheap, sugary drink, it carried a massively crude plasma rifle.

It most certainly qualified as a problem.

Prophet gagged over the comms _"Don't try to touch that thing's mind."_

It wasn't surprising that there was a thinking being inside the suit. Or that it was vile. Since her people had begun to ramp up activities against the aliens, their enemies had responded with ever worsening monstrosities.

"Pratham, please tell me you know how to deal with that thing."

" _I am afraid not."_

What a big surprise

"Byte, focus on keeping the signal suppressed."

" _Roger."_

"Cyber –" 

" _Fucking Sectoids got me cornered."_

And this was why she stayed in Mission Control so she could see what everyone was up to.

At her direction, Shieldmaiden and Prophet went to go assist Cyber with the sectoids. Slinger squeezed off a careful shot at the battlesuit, but missed as it swung a massive fist at Pratham. It barely clipped him, but it still sent him flying and smashed another hole in the wall of the ship. He said weakly over the comms. _"I'm okay."_

She shook her head slightly really hoped her people would get out of this with something usable left by the time they eliminated the last of the aliens.

It also made her very glad she'd refused to let any of the grenadiers from either group come on the mission. There definitely wouldn't have been a ship left once they were done. Particularly if Defcon was feeling creative.

Instead the damn alien made up for them by firing its weapon at someone within the ship, proving that the rifle wasn't a plasma rifle at all, but some monstrosity that belched out large globs of acid. The attack took out even more of the wall and whatever the room's contents were.

Lily made a quiet whimper over the comms at the continuing damage. While Athena sympathized, she was more worried about how they were going to handle the alien with the way the armor of its suit was just soaking up their shots.

Though on the plus side, Athena could finally use her abilities to see into the ship.

Then she worried about bringing her people back in one piece when the alien fired its rifle and missed them, but the roof of the ship causing debris to rain down.

Cyber shouted something making the thing turn towards him which gave Athena a good view of the tank-pump combination in the back. A sudden thought struck her.

The armored suit looked too heavy for her to pick up with her telekinesis, but the debris wasn't.

She seized a sizable piece with nice jagged edges and announced to the squad. "Stay out of its rear arc for a moment."

The lot of them scattered as it paused to fire its weapon at Cyber, taking out his cover, but miraculously left him untouched. Cyber started to laugh with the faintest edge of hysteria in his voice.

Byte sounded stunned as she said, _"Whatever it is you just did, you nailed the source of the distress signal."_

Cyber laughed even louder.

The alien in the battlesuit paused as it assessed the situation and Athena gladly used the opportunity to follow through with her plan by severing the pump from the suit. A fluorescent green liquid, almost chartreuse, gushed out, eating away even more of the floor of the ship.

Oh for fuck's sake, was that thing swimming in acid?

It certainly seemed that way as the glow in the dome faded with the fluid draining out and the creature inside flailing about, which also had its suit flailing about. Fortunately it didn't do any more damage to the ship since the area was already largely ruined. Prophet put it out of its misery with a well- timed blast from his rifle. The dome shattered and the dead body of the pilot flopped partially out of suit.

Several loud sighs of relief echoed over the comms and Athena started to let herself unwind as she turned her mind towards the logistics of breaking this down.

Until a loud squeal of metal on metal accompanied by a shower of sparks, the suit reactivated. With the dead alien still hanging out of it.

" _What the hell?"_ John exclaimed in her ear. _"We all saw that thing go down!"_

Something tore deep within her. It was hard to say what she felt at that moment, but it did cause power to come boiling up and out. She reached out in a way that was different from her usual mental grasp. The suit vanished in a blaze of aquamarine light, then reappeared high up in the sky outside of the craft to crash into the ground leaving a sizable crater around it.

Athena fell to her knees at the same time as agony ripped through her head. The last time she felt like this was when she'd woken up after Tygan dug the implants out of her three months before.

That was her last thought as the world greyed out, broken with the occasional flash of blurry faces and voices that just buzzed unintelligibly in her ears.

When Van returned to herself, she was in her bed with her skull pounding in tune with her heartbeat. John was seated by her bedside, looking down at a tablet and for a moment she was terrified that the last three months had all been a dream caused by a scrambled brain. The worry that came from him was almost a physical force.

He looked up just as she debated saying something and relief swiftly replaced his concern. It felt like a balm to her raw mind. He cupped a hand around her cheek and murmured. "Scared me there, angel."

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. It wasn't a dream. The living nightmare was real which made a twisted sort of relief. It meant her head wasn't as screwed up as she was afraid it was. Without opening her eyes, she croaked. "This shit is getting old."

There was a quiet chuckle, then his hand fell away, then a faint clink as his picked something up. "Easy, angel, this is something that'll help the pain."

Cold metal was lightly pushed against her neck, there was a hiss and the pain started to fade. Van reopened her eyes to see John putting an injector back down on the desktop before settling back down in his chair and took her hand in his. "First things first. Pratham will be fine, just needs a few days' rest. The rest got off pretty lightly. Cyber is going to need a double dose of the meds in the morning from the booze he guzzled down."

Seeing how close he had been to getting partially dissolved, Van couldn't really blame him, even with her own aversion to alcohol. She nodded slightly since she didn't want to set the headache off again.

He continued. "You'll also be pleased to know that most of the ship was still salvageable. Apparently Shen had already made arrangements with Patel's crew regarding the salvage so things went peacefully on that front."

Van let herself start to truly relax. Everything else had gone to plan other than the fight. That was a nice change of pace. "That is good news." She drew in a deep breath and blew it out without looking directly at him. "And I am sorry for scaring you. Again."

"Vanessa," he said with a bit of exasperation which got her to look at him. John shifted over from the chair to sit on the bed with her propped against him with one arm around her waist to hold her close. As he put his legs around hers, she smiled a little to see he'd already removed his boots. "Pretty sure I told you before, I've realized that's what life is like with you. For now, anyway. 'Sides, this time wasn't so bad. At least this time you didn't go charging through a mob of hostiles with only your sword and leaving everyone else in your dust."

She was never going to live down the rampage she'd been goaded into out of fear for John, and the now deceased Jimmy, and the rage of the psionics that had been the subject of brutal experiments. So she decided to change the subject. "Did I really teleport that thing?"

"Yeah, you did. Tygan and Patel are still pouring over the readings on that stunt."

Wasn't that fucking fantastic? Another thought made her feel grumpier. "They're going to want to test me for this, aren't they?"

"More than likely. Can't blame them. Most of the aliens don't teleport and the few that seem to only transport themselves. And that's only short distances. You moved several hundred pounds of metal at a range that hasn't been seen before."

The way he said that made her frown and twist around to look at him. "What is it?"

"Completely slipped my mind until today, but I think this isn't the first time you teleported something. It just wasn't as flashy."

She shook her head, she didn't have any memory of anything remotely close to that and said so.

"Not surprised. It was when we were talking with Weir and his…passenger. Pretty sure you didn't just levitate those shackles into place."

That had been only a little over a week ago. Yet, like everything that happened since she was rescued, it seemed such much longer than that. A year. Maybe even a lifetime. Not a mere eight days ago. "Damn. I didn't even realize that."

"Like I said, not surprised. Had a lot on your mind, that was just one small thing."

"I guess so." One more thing to set her apart from every other human, even the ones she cared for and cared about her. It felt like every time she turned around there was some new weird development. Would there come a time when she'd end up completely disassociated from

John hugged her tighter. "Hey now."

"What?"

"Got that look, the one that says you're going to start chasing your tail. If you already haven't."

She laughed ruefully. "You know me too well."

"Should hope so. If you can, put it to the side for now. We'll go grab some food and tomorrow you have a long talk with Doctor Sano. _Before_ you let Tygan get his hooks into you."

"Once again, thank you for taking care of me, my knight."

He kissed her cheek. "You're welcome. Don't think it's all one sided, you've been taking care of me too. Why else do you think I call you angel? You've been my guardian all this time."

Her stomach gurgled rather loudly and John laughed. "Now let's get you fed before something regrettable happens."


	61. Chapter 61

_**April 24, 2035**_

 _ **07:55 Mountain Time Zone**_

 _ **New Mexico Countryside**_

"Why did the Chief ask us to meet her here instead of the Shadow Chamber?" Jane asked just as Van arrived outside of Engineering.

"Morning to you too." The ranger grinned at her from under her ballcap's bill. "As for what's going on, I have no idea. Though there is a lot of happy excitement buzzing around in there."

To be honest, she was surprised that Jane wasn't picking up the feelings of euphoria, even if she didn't have any kind of psionic sensitivity. When she realized she was starting to feel a bit giddy, she hastily strengthened her mental barriers since it was likely to be a few minutes before the rest of the invitees to join them. It would be extremely embarrassing to end up drunk from a contact high.

Jane eyeballed her. "If I can be so bold, you're looking a lot better."

A day of solid sleep and a week of light duty had made a difference. The most galling part was the amount of food she actually had to eat on doctor's orders. Cuevas had steamrolled over her about the lack of reserves causing her to pass out every time she exerted herself. It felt like she was constantly eating. "I was that bad, huh?"

"Yup. You look like you're finally starting to keep some meat on your bones."

"Thanks, I think."

That got her a bright smile that quickly faded. "Depending on what happens today, I think you should be able to resume some training tomorrow."

Van rubbed at the back of her head uneasily. She'd finally agreed to Tygan activating the portal for a scouting run, but only if she had troops on hand in case anything came through from the other side. "I still need to stay out of the mix today, don't I?"

"Yeah." The ballcap came off as Shieldmaiden straightened up and stared intently at her. "No heroics, Commander. You're just observing for this op."

The words should have stung, but they didn't. Instead the Commander nodded her agreement. "I promise. No heroics."

"Good." Jane adjusted her ponytail and replaced her cap.

"Wow, that's some party in there," Jay commented as he joined them. He gave the two women a side eye, likely picking up on the now fading tension, but didn't say anything about it. Instead he turned his attention back to the entrance. "Is it safe to go in there?"

"God, now what?" John asked behind them.

Van turned to smile at him, and the rest of Menace 1-5 that were with him. "Morning everyone. They're apparently throwing a party in there."

Central eyed her, then the door, then back to her. Those gathered around them just looked at her expectantly. Naidoo cleared her throat then nodded towards the door.

Oh well, so much for keeping to light duty. Braced for the worst, she opened the door. There were goofily grinning engineers standing around in small groups chattering away. One of them shouted, "Hey Commander! Chief is in the testing range."

That so didn't bode well.

Harkes asked with a disturbingly childish glee, "Think she made the flamethrower from my specs?"

Definitely something Van didn't want to consider, but kept diplomatically silent as she lead the way to the range.

Lily's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm as she hefted an unknown rifle in her arms. The table beside her had a tarp covering suspiciously shaped mounds. The silvery weapon was sleekly organic with openings in the sides and the "mouth" was cut back at the top to show off a glowing green tube. The small crowd behind her kept Van from stopping dead in surprise at the sight of it.

"Thanks for coming folks. I thought everyone would like this demonstration before gearing up for later. And this way you have enough time to play- er, practice, with them too."

That's when Van saw that the usual brick wall with a paper target of a sectoid, there was a muton target on a wall that had triple the thickness.

Slinger was the one to voice the question on everyone's minds. "So what's the deal, Chief? Are you going to show us or not?"

The engineer's response was to turn towards the target, carefully aim down the length of the rifle and pulled the trigger. Brilliant green energy gathered in the interior of the weapon then lanced out in a blinding flash and slammed into the target. The paper evaporated in a blink of an eye and the bricks were blasted into smoldering gravel. Smoking debris filled the air in the back half of the chamber.

Lily nonchalantly commented, "I wonder how the aliens are going to react now that we have plasma weapons like theirs now."

Van understood the jubilant atmosphere. This was potentially a bigger game changer than the powered armor they had. The Chief removed the tarp off the table to reveal plasma versions of their standard guns. She was quietly impressed that there wasn't a mad rush for the new weapons.

Jane muttered next to her as she kept a sharp eye on the troops. "At least it doesn't look like we're using children's toys anymore."

She had to sympathize with the squad leader, the laser weaponry certainly had that feel to it. Then she turned to Lily. "Excellent work as always."

"Well, the R&D folks obviously helped out a lot with some of the more esoteric systems. Gotta say though, I'm surprised the alien troops haven't blown themselves up before this. Their safety systems are pretty much non-existent. They're a lot cruder than I expected."

That sounded about right with the ethereals' approach to anything that didn't benefit them directly. It seemed that once they had a design that fit the bare minimum of their troops' needs they stopped there. "I take it you tweaked their designs."

"Maybe just a little bit. They certainly won't be blowing up in our people's faces. They're more energy efficient too. We should see a few more shots per battery before having to reload." She set the rifle down on the table with the rest then signaled for new targets to be set up. "I'm gonna head up to the Shadow Chamber now. Try to keep them from destroying the place, Commander."

"Me? Not Shieldmaiden or Central?"

She snorted. "We all know they're gonna listen to you better. Anyway see you in a bit, Commander."

Van nodded as the Chief headed out, then faded to the back of the room to watch her people examine the new weapons. It was good to see them happy about something, but she felt a little troubled by her own reaction. In her mind it wasn't so long ago that she was advocating for better gun control in her country.

She mentally shook her head to break that line of thought. A week of sessions with Doctor Sano were starting to help stop her circular thoughts, but it was only a small start. John settled in next to her, which was a comfort since he could usually help distract her. She Spocked at him. "Not joining the kids with the new toys?"

"Nah, let them have their fun first. 'Sides they're the ones who'll be using them the most in the field."

"Very true." The two of them stood companionably out of the way as they watched their people. While they may have joked about the troops being like kids with new toys, the soldiers acted professionally with the guns, even Harkes.

Then it was time for the squad to get ready for the upcoming mission, much to the dismay of the fighters. There were numerous loud groans of protest before Shieldmaiden growled them into obedience.

Van fervently hoped the op would be as quiet as Tygan thought it would be. With John at her side, she left the room with Menace 1-5 as the rest of their soldiers made their way in to practice.

Once it was just the two of them, and they were far enough away from Engineering, she breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at her. "Didn't think it'd be that rough on you."

She gave him a small taste of what she'd picked up. He shook his head. "Christ. Surprised you were able to stand around in that stew."

"Once I reinforced my shielding it was livable. Anyway, it was good to feel that much positive emotion for once."

"I bet. And a good way to prep for what's coming up?"

"For them, yes. For me, not so much. I'm a bystander with you today."

"Uh huh," he replied as he nudged her to get moving again.

"What? You doubt my intentions?" She mock pouted.

"Angel, you're as likely to stay out of trouble as I am." He patted the pistol he kept in his thigh holster. "Only you don't need a gun."

That was the rub, wasn't it? She _was_ the weapon. Van sighed and nodded as she started to move down the corridor. She refused to brood anymore about what she'd been turned into. At least for one day. "So going to Mission Control until it's time?"

"Yeah. Going to join me? Crew'd be happy to see you."

"I'd like to, but I have a ton of messages I need to wade through because Mister Valley decided to start pawning his needier contacts off on me. This way I can curse freely or throw something if I want."

"Good point."

The rest of the walk to Mission Control went by in easy silence, then all too soon she was facing the electronic mountain in her quarters. As Van went through them, she quickly realized that most of those sending their requests to her weren't needy exactly. They hadn't had any kind of real support ever, so now they did, they weren't sure what to do with it.

With that in mind she assigned priorities and set the ship's AI to sorting through the mess. Though why they kept calling it an AI, she wasn't sure. It lacked what she considered defining features of a true Artificial Intelligence. It was a low priority mystery, one she'd like forget about again since it did what she needed it to.

Even though it was a brief look before she had to leave for the portal test, Van felt numb from the welter of emotions those messages evoked. Sickened horror at conditions that a number of cells were somehow subsisting in, despite knowing just how terrible their situations were. Humbled that it seemed a number of them were doing what they could to give information to help further the cause, despite the risk to themselves. Fretting at not being able to do more.

The last was an old, familiar feeling. Too often during the invasion she had to make a choice of which target was the higher priority.

As she slowly made her way to the Shadow Chamber, she mulled over the predicament. They couldn't do everything, they had to focus on their primary objective of driving the aliens off earth.

Maybe… maybe XCOM didn't have to be the one to do everything. They had one hell of a communications center now and the portable relays were spreading out among the cells, even the most isolated. It was possible various cells could coordinate their efforts.

She paused to make a note of that for herself so she wouldn't forget. After all, there was a high chance of that happening with the way life tended to go in XCOM. It was why she wasn't allowing Doctor Patel or any of his people in on this. If things went sideways they would just be in the way.

Tygan was outside of the Chamber looking in with an irritated expression when she arrived. Before she could say anything, he lifted up a finger in a request for silence, touched his ear then pointed to the door. Well, that was a pretty clear request.

Afraid of what she was going to find, Van did a quick scan, then frowned to herself. The only one in there was Lily who was working on something. She quietly asked, "What the hell?"

"Just listen."

From her position she could hear Lily muttering amid the sounds of ratcheting metal on metal, "Hate to do this. But you're the only one who can pull this off. You know I'd go myself if I could.

After a quick peak, the Commander glared at her head scientist. Keeping her voice low so it wouldn't carry, she growled, "You know how she is about her gremlin. Go finish your prep."

He stiffened. "Yes, Commander."

Once he was inside she shook her head, then went into the Chamber. "Hey Chief."

"Hi again, Commander." She gestured to Rov-r, her gremlin where an all too familiar black orb was bolted onto the drone with a crude cage. "Before you ask, yes, I've wired what's left of the codex brain into him so he can send the signal used by the codex to pass through the gate."

Van wondered why they had to complicate things when they could duplicate the signal with their own gear. But this wasn't her show. "Okay."

The entrance of her fellow psionics in full battlegear was a relief, since it meant she didn't have to say anything else. Though she had to suppress a smile at the way they were cradling their new plasma rifles.

Tygan looked like he bit into a lemon. "Really, Commander –"

She raised her hand to cut him off. "First of all, that gate still works both ways. You can't just set it to one way, correct?"

He nodded reluctantly.

"Secondly, the two of you blew the shit out of this place once before. I'm seeing to it that the chances of that happening are greatly reduced.'

Both the scientist and the engineer gave her rueful grimaces. Satisfied that she made her point, Van withdrew to an out of the way corner. Just because she promised no heroics didn't mean she wasn't going to keep an eye on the pair.

It was a bit difficult to keep a straight face as Prophet, Flashbang and Firecracker included her in their telepathic conversation about the betting pool regarding the results of the experiment.

The conversation died when Central walked into the room and headed straight for her. "Commander, the rest of Menace 1-5 is prepped outside."

"You can start whenever you want, Doctor."

He nodded, the lenses in his glasses flashing in the eerie purple light of the Chamber, then turned to the terminal hooked up to the portal. Van envied his rock steady conviction about the success of the test as the doctor quickly tapped away at the touchscreens.

There was a thrum in the floorplates as the portal drew heavily on the power plants in the ship causing the lights to flicker briefly.

It was the calm before the psionic storm.

Ever since her activation, the power in the Chamber was a gentle warm pressure much like sunlight on a beautiful spring day in DC.

That abruptly changed to the charged atmosphere of an impending thunderstorm as the gateway drew on the aliens' psionic network. A tiny star appeared in the center of the device then flared out to fill the entire opening in a blaze of lavender light so bright it was almost white.

It felt like a crack of thunder in her head.

In that moment she was able to see how the gate worked. She just lacked the power to open it on her own, even with the boost given by the other three going into gestalt with her. If she tapped into the network, she might be able to do so, but that in itself was such a _terrible_ idea. One she wouldn't even contemplate.

"The gateway is primed," Tygan announced.

When Lily didn't move from her spot, he looked over and walked to her. Van was a little surprised at the care that he used when he asked, "Is the… subject prepared?"

The engineer didn't look up from her drone and replied dejectedly, "Ready."

With the hope of bolstering her friend, Van gently said, "Thank you for doing this, Chief. I know that we could probably use another gremlin, but they don't have Rov-r's programming."

Lily flashed her a sad smile, then heaved a sigh and gestured at the little machine. It obediently jumped into the air and hovered in front of her. "Right, let's do this."

Van was ready to brain her head researcher when he said, "Excellent. Let us begin," as he headed back to the portal.

He redeemed himself when he stopped halfway and turned back to Lily. "We've already seen the codex opening a similar rift in the field. I am sure your… device will be fine."

Lily nodded mutely then walked over to the bank of monitoring equipment to the side of the alien device with Rov-r wobbling in the air behind her. Van really hoped the little drone wouldn't faceplant into the floor, but like a bumblebee managed to keep flying anyway.

After a couple of quick keystrokes, Lily commented, "There. We're set to record across all spectrums."

When the engineer turned back to Rov-r, Van felt her heart break just a little at the worry-laced determination on the other woman's face as she spoke to the machine that was more than just a machine to her. "Remember. Go in. Take some quick readings. Then come right back through, okay?"

It bobbed up and down then sped towards the portal without a hint of wavering.

An image began to form in the center of the incandescent energy in the portal, but it fluctuated the way a view underwater would. Tygan studied the display before him and nodded. "It appears our signal has been received. Increasing power."

The image sharpened to reveal a massive room dominated by other portals and massive statues dedicated to the ethereals. At the base of the largest statue were three glowing cylinders that made her think of sarcophagi.

Lily walked up to the portal and whispered, "Are you seeing this? Doesn't look like anyplace we've been before… or any place on Earth for that matter."

Oh Van knew that place all right, but that wasn't the time to bring it up.

Tygan continued to work on his station, frowning in thought. "Perhaps this is the source. The aliens' 'seat of power' if you will. Secured beyond any physical limitations."

Lily scowled at the gateway. "There's only one way to find out." She stomped back to her station with the drone spinning in place to watch her. She turned back to her 'baby'. "Go on. We've counting on you."

Rov-r bobbed up and down eagerly, then swooshed through the gate.

As soon as it did, half of Lily's equipment shut down in a hail of sparks and the little machine was spit back out in a mangled mess that slid along the floor and only stopped when it hit Firecracker's boot. The psi-operative hesitated, her face full of uncertainty.

Lily ran over to her gremlin. She snarled, "This is definitely _not_ fine, _Doctor._ "

That Tygan seemed unfazed by what happened made Van wonder if there was some way to give him sensitivity training. His response reinforced that consideration. "The process did work. There was an instant where the device was in-between locations. However, once that occurred the gateway called for a second signature. An _organic_ signature. When we could not provide one, it generated a sort of feedback pulse."

Rov-r squealed as sparks flashed out and it flattened even more on the floorplates. Lily scrunched up her face. "Obviously."

The doctor continued on, oblivious to her reaction. Tygan mused. "If the codex creates the door, this organic signature must surely be the key."

Central rubbed his forehead with one hand, a look of disbelief on his face. Van could feel his incredulity through the light link between them.

Lily scowled at him again before grabbing her ruined drone and getting to her feet. She studied the damage and said, "Well, we better make sure we have the right key before we try again. I would hate for this," she lightly shook the drone at Tygan, "To occur on something 'organic'."

"Yes, I quite agree."

Lily shook her head then stomped out, cradling the broken Rov-r in her arms.

Firecracker nudged Flashbang. "C'mon, let's go see if we can help her."

As the two hurried after the engineer, Prophet idly said, "I'll let the rest of the squad know they can stand down."

Central looked around the room, shook his head and left without further comment.

Finally realizing the change in the air, Tygan looked around, then frowned. "For what it's worth, Vanessa, I am sorry about Shen's device."

"You might want to tell her that."

His frown deepened. "Are you sure she'll accept it?"

"I don't know if she'll accept it, but she'd appreciate your sentiment."

His forehead creased as he thought about it then slowly nodded. "I'll get my report to you with m complete findings as soon as I can. After I give my… condolences to the Chief."

She gave him a slight smile. "Good man." Her smile faded. "I guess we really need to hack a codex after all, it likely would give us the, ah, organic signature."

"That is the hope, Vanessa. Once I finish my analysis I should have a better idea of what we need."

"Thank you, Tygan."

It was only after she was halfway back to her quarters that she realized that experiment went a lot closer to plan than normal. So why did that give her such a sense of dread?


	62. Chapter 62

_**April 29, 2035**_

 _ **10:12 Mountain Standard Time**_

 _ **Colorado Countryside**_

It was a strangely quiet morning in Mission Control. Bradford took the opportunity to enjoy his coffee as he monitored the displays and keeping a half an ear on the soft conversations around him.

Well, maybe it made up for the mad dash they had four nights before to rescue a convoy of Resistance fighters from ADVENT pursuit. While it had been nice to see the new plasma weapons in action, the rescue wasn't much of a challenge.

Or the call from another cell to deal with a chryssalid infestation two days ago. That had been more tedious butchery than any real danger. Thankfully that group had been smart enough to hole up in a building with a solid concrete floor and covered windows so the damn bugs couldn't burrow in. All Menace 1-5 had to do was deal with the mass that had swarmed the building.

Unfortunately Defcon had been able to finally test out the flamethrower the Skirmishers used. Fortunately, nothing important got torched.

Then there was the ADVENT raid on yet another cell yesterday. It was another minor action, but it was wearing. Even if it was an opportunity to let some of their more inexperienced people work in the field.

So they probably did earn their momentary peace.

After eyeing the feeds again, he revised his opinion on an easy morning. Van was still on her conference with the leaders of the larger cells in the region, so she probably wasn't have a restful time. Since the call had been going on for about a half hour, he hoped that was a good sign. Most of the cells in the former United States generally didn't play well together.

That was all right, the Commander would sort out the meatheads. Whether they liked it or not.

A beep from Erikson's terminal brought a tense silence. She listened intently for a moment then turned to him. "Central, message for you. A woman by the name of Peregrine."

Now that was a name he hadn't heard in quite some time. Since she hadn't been in contact for over a year, he figured she'd gotten herself killed. Obviously he wasn't so lucky if she was now. "Put her through to the bridge terminal."

The comm tech nodded and did as ordered. He put down the coffee and strode into the bridge. This was a conversation best had in private. Bradford used the brief walk to prepare.

When Peregrine's image came up on the screen, he noted that she hadn't changed much, still had the same cap of iron grey hair over a sharply angled face dominated by crazed yellow eyes and an impressive raptorial beak of a nose. There were only the faintest of lines around her mouth and eyes to hint at her true age. Bradford tried for a civil tone as he greeted her. "Peregrine, been awhile."

" _That's mighty polite of you, John. Guess finally rescuing your princess softened you."_

"Not interested in playing your games anymore. What do you want?"

She stared at him for so long he was about to cut the connection when she spoke. _"Hear you're a busy, busy man now. Too busy to help an old friend, I wonder?"_

"Get on with it."

Her pale, thin lips twisted. _"Fine, be that way. There's going to be a meeting of some ADVENT asskissers in a few days. Thought your people might be interested in getting their hands on them. And what they know."_

"And just what do you get out of this?" Bradford didn't believe she'd offer this from the goodness of her heart. Peregrine was part of the Resistance simply because it allowed her to indulge her love of anarchy.

" _It'll take pressure off me and mine while they're off chasing you lot again."_ She hesitated and he wasn't surprised. That was a remarkably honest answer from her. _"I'm sure you know this, but the assholes still have hard-ons for your princess."_

"Thank you, we have figured that out ourselves." He refused to take her bait with the princess comments. "So what details do you have about this meeting?"

She bared her teeth at him in her idea of a friendly smile. _"I'm sending the file with all the deets. Send my regards to your princess. Ta for now!"_

Her transmission cut off before he could attempt a reply. He let himself explode briefly. "Fuck!"

So much for his quiet morning. Now he was going to have a difficult conversation with Van, especially if Peregrine decided she was going to show up on a regular basis to needle him.

A beep signaled the completed download and Bradford regarded it the way he would a potential bomb. He sighed, ran a hand over his face, through his hair then along the back of his neck as he debated reading what Peregrine sent. Finally he had the AI scan the file for any issues.

He wouldn't put it past the bitch to try to sabotage them. When the computer indicated that the file was clean, Bradford wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or aggravated. After he realized he was both, he opened the file.

Central read through the file and frowned. Some of those names were familiar, but he couldn't quite place them, so he had a search done on the people in question. The results were eye opening. If even just one of the people were at the specified location, there was the potential for a decent windfall of intel.

He had a feeling that Van would appreciate this target of opportunity.

Satisfied with what he reviewed, he exited the bridge to check on the situation. Thankfully it was still quiet. Bradford reclaimed his noticeably cooler coffee and checked on Van. When he saw that her call was over, he decided to just get the uncomfortable talk over with. "Going to have a conference with the Commander."

Erikson nodded. "Yes, sir."

The brief walk to Van's quarters didn't give him much time to truly settle down or figure out how to explain things to her.

When he arrived at the door he thought the troops had finally given up on their needless Commander Watch. Then he spotted one of their newest members in stealth near the usual position and realized that one of their newest rangers, Jensen Wasikowski, was on watch. A lithe, muscular man with a clean shaven head and a dark goatee. He was dressed in a jumpsuit that was the closest thing they had to a uniform rather than the more eclectic clothing most of the off duty troops wore.

Wasikowski stepped forward and said softly, "Central."

Bradford repressed his sigh of exasperation. "As you were."

The man nodded and faded back into the shadows. Well that was just creepy. Hopefully that man wasn't weirding Van out too much.

The door opened at his approach, an action that still surprised him even though she'd set it up that way a few weeks ago. Van might think it was their shared quarters now, but Bradford still hadn't gotten used to it. Probably wouldn't as long as they remained on the Avenger. The door slid closed behind him as he entered the room.

Van was at her desk studying information on the multiple displays before her with all too familiar schematics on the main display on the wall. She swiveled around in her chair and bluntly asked, "What's wrong?" A slight smile graced her mouth, but didn't reflect in her eyes. "And don't say it's complicated."

He grinned a little. That had been a thought that occurred to him. The smallest settee swiveled around to face her and she leaned over to pat the cushion. "Have a seat. Want some coffee?" The smile returned, this time lighting up her entire face with wicked laughter. "I'd offer a protein shake, but they've been banned for some reason."

With a soft chuckle, he walked forward and settled down. "No thanks on the coffee, good for now." Bradford looked up at the image of a mansion slowly rotating on the display and pursed his mouth as he thought about it. "Gonna guess you got this from a different source."

She just gazed at him steadily and waited.

He scrubbed his hands over his face as he tried to figure out once again how to explain past bad decisions. Even though he knew the answer, he still said, "If you still hold any of the memories you saw, take a look for the ones with Peregrine?"

"John," she said in exasperation. Then her gaze focused over his shoulder as she frowned in thought. "You know Peregrine? The leaders I'd been talking with just now warned me about her."

That was hardly a surprise. "Yeah, anyone with half a brain would. She's nothing but trouble."

"Okay. I'm confused. What's going on, John?"

How did a guy explain to his fiancée that he used to hook up with the crazy woman for drunken angry sex? Sex that may have been recorded. "We have… a past."

"So she's an ex? I don't see the prob-", she cut herself off abruptly then stared at him in horror. "You don't have a kid with her, do you?"

"Fuck no!" The thought of a kid in that psychotic's hands was almost as grotesque as the Avatar Project.

Van relaxed. "Then I don't see what the problem is. You're not the type to stray, John. So I'm not worried about any kind of blandishments she might inflict on you."

He said without thinking. "I'd sooner fuck a chryssalid."

She grimaced in disgust. "Ugh. Thank you so much for that mental image."

"It was the first thing that popped into my head to tell you how I feel about that idea." He shrugged

A look of pure revulsion pulled her mouth down, then she shook her head. "Anyway. I'm still not getting what the issue is. I can't see her getting between us no matter how hard she tries."

Bradford sighed. "There might be videos."

"Oh." She thought about it, then smirked at him. "Anything we haven't done?"

Of course she'd respond that way, Van had far fewer hang-ups about sex than he did. "I don't remember. There was generally a lot of booze before and after."

Her expression softened into sympathy. "I'm sorry for joking about that."

"No, you're right. Helped me get my head straightened out." Now it was his turn to smirk. "She kept calling you princess."

It was the first time he'd seen Van giggle like a little girl and it went a long way to ease the tension he'd been under since the notification of Peregrine's call. Once she got herself back under control, Van sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I've been called many things, princess is a new one. So did she have anything useful to say?"

"Sent a file for a potential target. What do you have so far?"

The Commander gestured at the display. "The blueprints of that mansion and that there's supposed to be some important ADVENT veeps having a dinner party in a few days."

Central grinned. "She was able to give me the names of those attending. You might find one of them interesting."

She skimmed over the file that he sent her and he knew by the way her eyes widened that she recognized the name at the top of the list. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the obstructionist turtle himself from the U.S. Senate, Rich Tuttle."

"Thought you might like that. He should have some useful intel."

"Not just that, did you take a look at his usual security escort?"

"I figured we'd go over that if we did go for this target. It's different enough from what we usually do that I wanted to make sure you were interested first."

"Two birds with one stone, John. There's usually at least one codex in his escort, sometimes two or three."

He gave a low whistle. That bumped up the mission to top priority. Tygan's analysis of the portal data hadn't yielded much in the way of details. So the scientist was hoping that hacking the codex would give them the genetic information that needed. Or at least a way to find a location for the source. He got to his feet. "I'll have Menace 1-5 meet here?"

"Yes. You know you don't have to leave to do it?" Van didn't hide her worry as she watched him.

"Yeah." Bradford blew out his breath and shook his head. "Just little raw around the edges." What he really felt was dirty from the memories that had been stirred up. It was stupidly irrational, but Peregrine represented a time of his life that he wasn't very proud of.

"Come here." His angel walked over to him and held her hands. Not for the first time around her, Bradford felt every minute of his fifty-five years, but he took one hand and let her pull him in close. Van wrapped her other arm around him. He let go of her hand to hug her as tightly as he could with the knowledge that he couldn't hurt her.

"John, this doesn't change anything between us at all. You're a grown man, and it wasn't like there was anything more between us than friendship until recently." She gently stroked along the back of his neck, her skin warm against his. The link that she maintained between them became a little stronger and Bradford welcomed the soothing mental touch.

After a few minutes, she sighed and reluctantly let go. "Unfortunately, duty calls. Feeling better?"

"I am. Thank you as always." He knew that after a few sessions of his own with Sano that the shrink was still trying to figure out if this coping mechanism they used was healthy or not.

"And you're welcome, as always." She lightly kissed him then patted his cheek before she went to her desk to get the coffee. "Now then, I'm not worried about that bitch getting anywhere with trouble for the two of us personally. What about for XCOM?"

He gratefully accepted the fresh mug she handed him and sat back down. "Right now? Not much. She's more of an unreliable ally right now. If that government you're designing comes into play once we kick the aliens off earth, then we'll probably have a problem."

"Ah, one of those." She nodded to herself as she added the usual frightening amount of sugar to her coffee. "Good, we can deal with her later, I don't have to have her ended now."

Bradford drank some of his coffee, then sent the notice to Jane to round up everyone for the briefing and thought over her last comment. Of course the situation would bring out both her protective and ruthless streaks at the same time, which could generate some terrifying results. What she'd done to Vahlen had been brutal, but not undeserved and that had been to someone she still considered something of an asset. He didn't really want to think about what she'd do to someone like Peregrine.

He jerked his mind back onto task. "Notification sent for them to come by in a half hour. We'll go over the details in the meantime?"

"Exactly what I intended." She turned back to her monitors and said more to herself than anything else. "What shall we do with you, Mister Tuttle?"

Bradford decided it was best not to ask what she had in mind.


	63. Chapter 63

_**May 1, 2035**_

 _ **17:58 Central Time**_

 _ **Kentucky Countryside**_

" _Are you seeing this shit, Commander?"_ Shieldmaiden asked over the comms as the squad came into view of the mission objective.

Central stared at the image with disgust. It wasn't the size of the building. It was the overwhelming opulence that his mind had a hard time registering beyond far too much white, gold and red. It stood out like a sore thumb in the parklike setting of the surrounding landscaping.

The schematics didn't give a hint of how grotesque the place was. For that matter, none of the locals had warned them either.

Van looked up from the display of the objective that replaced the globe on the holo-table in Mission Control. She said dryly, "Oh, I'm seeing it. How charming, they went with classic 1920's Hollywood. How very Great Gatsby of them."

There were muffled snickers.

She went on more seriously. "Any sign of the targets?"

Central shook his head while reviewing the feeds from the drones that had been deployed ahead of their people and making sure that the displays were updating correctly. "Exterior security looks to be solely ADVENT. Might be in the interior."

"Can't imagine a codex being social. Are they even capable of talking?"

Not sure if he could even begin to try to figure that one out, Central looked at Tygan for assistance. The scientist didn't even look up from his monitoring station off to the side of Mission Control. "I am not going there."

A wicked grin flitted across Van's face, then she sobered and spun the holo-display again as red icons populated the area from the squad and the observation drones. "The exterior has two troopers at the front gates, two at the rear, then two patrols of two circling the building and an officer in a guard house at the rear of the main building. Four turrets, one on each corner of said building."

"Yes, Commander," Shen replied. "And according to the Shadow Chamber there should be two codices and another pair of troopers somewhere. So we've got two chances at jacking the information we need. They probably are inside since the drones have surveyed the entire area."

Van tapped at the display to send the updates to Menace 1-5. "So far our plan is still holding. Take out that officer first and see if that gives you a way into their security system."

" _On our way, boss."_

The display updated with the blue markers to indicate their people as they slowly made their way across the expansive grounds. Satisfied that the feeds to the display were working, Bradford joined Van by the display and glanced at her to see how she was doing.

Despite the intent gaze on the displays before her, Van sent him a mental image of wrinkling her nose at him the way she did when he fussed too much.

He gave a slight nod in her direction and observed the squad's approach. Not for the first time he marveled at the progress they'd made in their skills. Menace 1-5 was almost as good as their old teams during the invasion.

Shieldmaiden arrived at the post first. _"Okay, bosslady, gonna try the phasing thing now."_

Tygan and Shen winced at the ranger's choice of words. Central made a note of working on their radio protocol. Again.

There was just the faintest hint of amusement in Van's voice as she gave her go ahead. Of course she'd be amused and that was probably why Shieldmaiden made that comment.

They'd seen the wraith armor in use in the proving ground, but to see it in the field was quiet another thing. It lived up to its name as Shieldmaiden gained a translucent, then ghostly appearance before she went through the wall. He still couldn't believe his eyes, even though he'd seen the lab testing. She'd gone through the fucking wall like it wasn't even there.

The ranger rematerialized in the room and calmly beheaded the officer before it even knew she was there. Amber ichor coated the walls and computer terminals around the now dead officer. The heightened vitals on the readout belied her feigned nonchalance. _"I'm in."_

Shen grinned. "I do some damn fine work."

Vanr nodded to Shen, eyes bright with excitement at the success, but her voice still remained calm. "Good work. Byte, if you'll join her?"

" _Yes, Commander."_

"Shieldmaiden, how's the charge on your armor?"

" _Can do that one more time. I'll save it for an emergency."_

"Good." Van nodded. While the combat hacker moved in to do her job as the rest of the squad took up positions outside of the post, she tapped her earpiece and gave the other woman a broad smile. "Yes, very nice work, Chief. I'm impressed."

"I quite agree," Tygan added. That was more than a little unexpected. Since the destruction of Shen's pet gremlin, the already strained relationship between the two had become downright frosty. So it was a big surprise that the man spoke to her directly. The scientist continued. "Adapting the codex's flickering between dimensions was brilliant and well executed."

Shen gaped at him before stammering her thanks.

Byte said over the comms, _"Security system is mine. Confirm that targets are in the main building. The turrets are on a separate system, but I can hack the one at the rear entrance for us to get in. Can also confirm that the codexes are inside the building as well. They're patrolling the outer halls. The two troopers are stationed in the dining room at either end. I think they're an honor guard or something."_

"What about the staff?" Van asked after she turned her mic back on.

" _Less than expected. Right now they're all in the kitchen. Most are doing prep, some look like they're hanging out."_

"Get moving then. Pratham, did you get that?"

" _Yes, Commander. The False Gods will have fewer slaves after this night."_

"All right," she replied and slowly shook her head. The Skirmishers' zealotry still concerned both of them, but the former ADVENT troops did get results. That they were so quick to kill their former comrades was chilling.

Even during the darkest times in Afghanistan, he never treated his opponents in such a callous manner.

Better to keep focused on the mission. Bradford made sure the map updated to show the green dots of Pratham's squad as they approached the building in the opposite direction of the XCOM fighters.

With the alarms disabled, it was easy for the Skirmishers to vault over the wall and drag the nearest patrol to them with their grapnels, their dual-pronged Ripjacks rose and fell in sprays of amber fluid.

On the other side of the display, Shieldmaiden flung open the kitchen door for Defcon to toss in a couple of gas grenades, then the ranger slammed the door shut. She counted down from three on her fingers, reopened the door and hurtled through with the grenadier hot on her heels.

Inside the unconscious bodies of the staff were sprawled out over counters or on the floor, except for one of the chefs who kept his coworker from falling onto the hot stove. At the swinging door that connected the kitchen to the reset of the mansion, one of the servers was on guard. The woman's ponytail swung behind her as she turned to the team, her voice low. _"One of those electronic monsters just went by. It'll probably be another ten minutes or so before one of the electronic monsters comes by."_

The chef grunted as he straightened up. _"The drugs should be taking effect any moment now."_

" _Thanks,"_ Shieldmaiden replied. " _Do you want to extract with us when we're done?"_

The Resistance operatives exchanged a brief look, then both shook their heads. The woman answered for them both. _"They don't suspect us. If you secure us with the others they shouldn't suspect a thing."_

" _Okay, if you're sure."_

Both nodded firmly.

As he listened to the conversation, Bradford hoped that it wasn't false bravado speaking. Van pursed her lips, but didn't countermand them.

It took only a few moments to knock out the two operatives and secure everyone.

"Take out the guards and secure the primary targets before you go for a codex," the Commander ordered.

" _Understood."_

As Menace 1-5 made their way through the grandiose halls, he spared a glance to the just in time to see a burst of green energy darts smash into the open mouth of a trooper's helmet, vaporizing what little could be seen of the face within. The helmet falling away from the smoking body proved that more than just the face was destroyed.

An ADVENT lancer charged at the Skirmisher, its blunted sword crackling with energy. A pulse from another Skirmisher's bullpup staggered the lancer, but didn't stop it. The stagger was all the first Skirmisher needed to smash its face in with her Ripjack.

While it was good to see the aliens' tech used against their forces, Bradford couldn't help but worry about the future. He that thought to the back of his mind since it was more important to keep his focus on the task at hand, especially when something on the feed for the XCOM squad caught his eye, but Byte beat him to it.

" _The guards at the objective are radioing for help. Not sure how much longer I can keep control of the system."_

" _We're on it,"_ Shieldmaiden replied. At her gesture, Wasikowski took off with her down the short corridor from the kitchen to the dining room.

Wasikowski skid to a halt on the slick hardwood floor to fire at the trooper standing next to the door as the other ranger sped past him with sword drawn. The storm gun in his hands barked out a blast of jade colored energy that cut the trooper in half, blew out half the wall behind it and set the remainder of the wall on fire.

The sprinkler system kicked in just as Shieldmaiden arrived at her target and cleanly lopped off the head, the spraying water immediately diluting the gush of ichor.

In the distance twin electronic screams of fury could be heard while the team hastily secured the unconscious targets. When they were going to pass up on the wives, Van spoke up. "Get the spouses too. They're going to know things as well."

Just as they were finishing their task, Prophet radioed from where he was stationed outside of the door that connected the dining room to one of the side halls to the rest of the mansion. _"Ready to slap mine into stasis."_

" _Ready to blow the shit out of mine,"_ Defcon replied. The grenadier had planted herself in the middle of the hall with her beam cannon at the ready.

Van smiled very slightly. He couldn't blame her, the plan was holding up better than expected.

The first of the flickering entities had the misfortune of appearing in the hall Defcon was waiting in. The moment there was just a hint of golden energy, Defcon unleashed a green hell on the creature. And the hall around. And the wall behind it. The entire area went up in flames so intense the sprinkler system didn't have a hope in hell of putting them out.

The codex that got put into stasis was much less dramatic. A swirl of psionic energy formed a dome around the creature before it could move.

Defcon patted the barrel of her gun as she joined the others scattered around the captured codex, weapons at the ready.

None of them knew what was going to pop up when the thing got hacked, but they weren't going to take any chances this time. Not after having the first codex pop up when at their initial attempt to hack the system through the officer's chip.

Byte got into position in front of the frozen codex, her right hand down with the skulljack out. She nodded her readiness.

Prophet didn't give any outward sign of acknowledgment, not even a waver in his rifle's muzzle, but the dome of energy disappeared.

"Excellent," Van murmured and Bradford put in a lot of effort to keep from smiling in response. One of her pet peeves had been how the alien trained and influenced psi-operatives made dramatic gestures and flashy light shows whenever they used their powers. She kept pointing out that they weren't wizards from the video games she used to play.

As soon as the dome disappeared, Byte snapped her arm forward and up, piercing the "skull" of the codex with the jack's prongs. The energy based creature emitted a wail as Shen and Tygan started their hack on the system.

The sensors registered a sudden spike of psionic energy. He shouted, "You've got incoming!"

Byte dropped the now inert codex and dove into a side room as psionic energy blazed forth from the remains of the codex "brain".

A humanoid figure appeared as the energy dissipated. It was clad in skintight purple-black armor, the face concealed by a glowing magenta featureless mask, leaving only it's whites hair wafting in the air. In its right hand was an unknown rifle with the same color as its armor, its left hand was raised up to blaze with more psionic energy that seem to have any effect on their people.

Beside him Van snarled, "Fucking space wizard."


End file.
